Man gets life for murder of a granny (85) at old age home
Oosthuizen to also serve 15 years for robbery
Image: 123RF/LUKAS GOJDA
The Mpumalanga high court has sentenced a 41-year-old man to life imprisonment and 15 years after he was found guilty of murder and robbery of an 85-year-old woman.
Shaun Oosthuizen attacked Henrietta Catharina Potgieter at the Macadamia old age home in Mbombela on July 8 2018.
According to state prosecutor Adv Vuyo Mkhulisi, Oosthuizen, from Munsieville in Gauteng, drove an Opel Astra with a Gauteng registration plate. He entered the old age home and found Potgieter watching TV. He assaulted her before strangling her death.
Oosthuizen pleaded guilty to the charges of murder and robbery with aggravated circumstances.
He was initially charged together with two other people but charges against them were withdrawn due to insufficient evidence.
“The accused accosted the woman. He then assaulted, tied and strangled her. She died instantly. He further robbed the deceased of an amount of R10, 000 and fled the scene,” said Mkhulisi.
Mkhulisi also told the court that the accused had previous convictions for attacking the elderly and other weak individuals to rob them.
The sentences will run concurrently.