Judge Nomathamsanqa Beshe sentenced the murderer of Warrant Officer Alby Julius to life imprisonment plus 15 years on top of that at the Grahamstown High Court today, saying that greed was the motivating factor in the crime.
Judge Nomathamsanqa Beshe sentenced the murderer of Warrant Officer Alby Julius to life imprisonment plus 15 years on top of that at the Grahamstown High Court today, saying that greed was the motivating factor in the crime.
Anthony Swartz was charged with robbery with aggravating circumstances on the first count and the second charge was murder. On the first charge he was sentenced to 15 years and to life imprisonment on the second charge.
The 32-year-old man was convicted on the two charges on Monday and sentence was handed down today.
Swartz was arrested after the body of Julius was discovered with multiple stab wounds in the upper body at about 7am on Saturday 6 August in bushes near Sun City.
The case started at the Magistrate's Court but was moved to the High Court later. Yesterday, Advocate Deon Geldenhuys representing Swartz, read out a statement that was made by Swartz to him.
In the statement Swartz pleaded guilty to both charges against him. Swartz explained in the statement what happened when he killed the police officer on the night of Friday 5 August.
The murderer of Julius said he was socialising with his friends until the early hours of Saturday 6 August.
"I noticed the deceased walking when I was returning from a tavern and also noticed that he was under the influence of alcohol. I then decided to rob him.
"I approached the deceased and stabbed him multiple times in the upper body, I then took the deceased's cellphone as well as R1 500 in cash and left.
"I admit the post-mortem findings as contained in the medico-legal post mortem examination report as accurately reflecting the injuries sustained by the deceased during the incident," said Swartz in the statement.
Swartz agreed that what he did was unlawful and intentional. He confirmed that he wielded a knife during the robbery.
Swartz said he was heavily under the influence of alcohol during the incident. But he admitted that he knew what was happening around him at that time and understood what he was doing was wrong.
He admitted that he unlawfully and intentionally killed Julius during the robbery. Swartz stated that on Saturday 6 August police arrested him. After his arrest he denied murdering Julius.
But upon reflection he decided to tell the truth. The following day, on Sunday, he said he voluntarily made a pointing out and an accompanying confession to the police, during which the deceased's cellphone was recovered.
Swartz said he also made another confession of the incident to the Grahamstown Magistrates Court on 8 August.
State advocate Nico Henning said Swartz started by being convicted for house breaking and stealing in 2006. In 2013 he was convicted for assault and the same year convicted for possession of drugs.
Henning said the statement made by Swartz that he was under the influence of alcohol when he murdered Julius was not convincing.
"The seriousness of this case will cancel the role played by the accused's alleged intoxication. The previous convictions are also relevant to what he has done. He shows disrespect for other people's possessions.
"The sentences that he received in the past convictions were very lenient. The multiple stab wounds in the upper body of the deceased are life threatening injuries.
He also states that he saw that the deceased was under the influence of alcohol. So that made him an easy target to rob.
"The role that was played by the alcohol (to Swartz) was minimal because he noticed that the deceased was intoxicated. He also told police of what happened during the robbery. That means alcohol didn't play any role to him.
"The deceased played a very vital role to the society and maintained his family. Not much can be made from the fact that he has pleaded guilty to the charges.
"He knew that the state had a very strong substantial evidence," said Henning.
Before Beshe handed down the sentence, Henning read a statement from Belinda Julius, the widow of Alby.
The widow was describing the role her husband played in the family and the society. She pleaded that the court hand down a serious sentence to the killer of her husband.
Before handing down the sentence, Beshe said the statement of Swartz was not enough to be lenient on the sentence as Geldenhuys had requested. He said the fact that he pleaded guilty to the charges did not show that he was remorseful.
"He did not even verbalise his plea in the court. After his arrest he didn't tell truth to the police, he only told truth the following day.
"The convicted man has mentioned that he was working as a painter during the time of his arrest. He stated that he was earning R2 400 a month at his job.
"There are scores of people throughout the country who are unemployed and don't get what Swartz was earning a month. He earned money and should have afforded to stay with his friends drinking until the morning. What he did was out of greed," said Beshe.
The fact that Swartz mentioned that alcohol played a role in his murdering of Julius was dismissed by Beshe. The judge said the fact that Swartz managed to stab Julius with multiple penetrating wounds in the upper body showed that he was not drunk.
She said Swartz was also able to remember and tell the police everything that had happened during the robbery incident. Also after killing Julius he was able to take some items of the deceased.
Beshe said those actions were not those of a drunk person. She said Swartz does not respect other peoples' possessions.
She said for those reasons she was sentencing Swartz to the 15 years and life imprisonment.
The wife of Julius broke down in tears during the court proceedings as Geldenhuys was trying to defend Swartz.
But after the sentence the widow said she was relieved that Swartz would no longer be part of the society.
"I'm happy that justice has been served. My husband was a very nice person and didn't deserve to die like that. He was not a violent person," said Belinda.
