Jacobus Plaaitjies worked as a handyman for 30-year-old Anthea Thopps and knew her and her family well.
Anthea Thopps. Picture: Facebook
CAPE TOWN – A man convicted of the rape and murder of a Beaufort West woman has been sentenced to an effective 25 years behind bars.
Jacobus Plaaitjies worked as a handyman for 30-year-old Anthea Thopps and knew her and her family well.
He’s been handed a 25-year sentence for murder, 25 years for rape, 10 years for robbery with aggravating circumstances and five years for housebreaking with intent to steal and theft.
The sentences will run concurrently.
The accused had admitted to smoking tik and mandrax with friends and when he needed money to buy more drugs, he remembered that Thopps had an amplifier which he could steal and sell.
Plaaitjies broke into the woman’s house through the kitchen.
He then dragged her to the living room where choked her until she lost consciousness.
The victim was then raped and had a shoelace tied tightly around her neck.
Plaaitjies made off with two cellphones and her handbag in which he found R200 with which he bought more drugs.
He burnt the bag and the rest of its contents while using drugs with friends in a nearby field.
One cellphone was sold for R100 and the other was discarded.
