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Life in jail for killer nurse

McKeed Kotlolo

McKeed Kotlolo

A Limpopo nurse who hacked her husband to death with an axe while he was sleeping, set him alight and buried him in a shallow grave, was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Middelburg circuit court yesterday.

Judge Aubrey Ledwaba of the Pretoria high court convicted and sentenced Rebecca Makua, 44, of Mooi Hoek in the Thabamopo district for the gruesome murder of her taxi owner husband, Mpoisana Sam Makua, 51, in March 2006.

The couple's adopted daughter-cum-niece Lethabo Makua, 16, a Grade 10 pupil, who was present during the murder, gave evidence for the state and wept throughout the hearing.

In passing sentence, Judge Ledwaba said: "The fact that it was a woman who killed a man does not make it less serious."

During the trial, the nurse refused to give evidence but claimed in mitigation that the deceased was the aggressor. The judge rejected her claim.

Ledwaba then sentenced her to life imprisonment on the murder charge and five years for malicious damage to property.

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