Louterwater farmer kills intruder, kidnaps second – Jailed to 6 years
He killed an armed intruder in self-defence, but the decision to dump the body, kidnap the second attacker and shoot him on a remote road has landed a Louterwater farmer in prison for six years.
Stephanus Samson, 58, was sentenced in the Gqeberha High Court earlier this month after being convicted of kidnapping, attempted murder and defeating the ends of justice.
He had earlier been acquitted of murder after the court accepted that he shot and killed Shalton Bruintjies inside his home during a sudden confrontation in which the intruder was armed with a panga and a knife.
Judge Avinash Govindjee said the fatal shooting was lawful self-defence, but everything Samson did afterwards was not.
Instead of calling police, Samson dragged Bruintjies’s body out of the house and dumped it in bushes.
He then turned his attention to the second intruder, Renaldo Blaauw, who had also entered the property that night.
The court heard that Samson tied Blaauw’s hands, forced him into his vehicle and drove him to a deserted gravel road in the Kouga area.
There, Samson fired three shots at him from about 10 metres away.
Thinking Blaauw was dead, Samson covered him with branches.
Blaauw survived and later testified as a section 204 witness.
Govindjee said Samson showed no genuine remorse and had tried to shift blame during the trial.
The judgment stated he “did not accept responsibility for his actions and showed no sign of genuine remorse”.
The court accepted that the break-in had shaken Samson and that he had been a victim of crime before.
It also noted that he obtained a firearm in 2017 after police repeatedly failed to respond to earlier break-ins at his home.
But the judge said fear of imprisonment did not excuse the decisions made after the initial shooting.
Reports from a social worker and probation officer suggested that Samson was a candidate for correctional supervision and posed no danger to society.
But Govindjee rejected these recommendations, saying Samson had not shown true contrition and that the seriousness of the crimes demanded direct imprisonment.
Govindjee said it would be unjust to impose the prescribed 15-year minimum sentence for attempted murder, finding substantial and compelling reasons to deviate.
Samson’s age, clean record, community standing and the unusual sequence of events were taken into account.
But Govindjee said a custodial sentence remained necessary.
He sentenced Samson to six years for attempted murder and two years each for kidnapping and two counts of defeating the ends of justice.
All the sentences will run concurrently, leaving Samson with an effective six-year term.
Blaauw, who testified for the state, was officially discharged from prosecution after the court found he had answered questions honestly and to the best of his ability.
IOL News