An escort-agency owner who murdered his sister-in-law and her husband, and then carried on with his life for three years before his wife exposed him, was sentenced to two terms of life imprisonment on Friday.
Abraham Carel Koekemoer (49) did not show much emotion after being sentenced for the December 2002 murders of his sister-in-law Sonet van Vuuren (19) and her husband, Tobie (24), but family members reacted with tears and anger.
Koekemoer admitted last month to the Pretoria High Court that he had shot the couple and then forced his 14-year-old son to help him get rid of the bodies.
He told the court he became angry because the couple were fighting again and had simply shot them. Koekemoer admitted having argued with Van Vuuren because he would not let Koekemoer join his business of selling cigarette lighters.
Koekemoer, a trained pest controller who also ran an escort agency, is at present serving a 30-year jail term for two armed robberies.
His wife, Geraldine, was forced to lie to her own mother about her sister’s death for three years because Koekemoer threatened to kill her and their two children.
His son from a previous marriage, who is now 18, still battles with the emotional aftermath of what he was forced to do and having to keep quiet about it.
Her mother, Ella Brits, was bitter about her child’s death. ”My child is dead, but we have to go on living. I hope he burns in hell. My children don’t even have a roof over their heads any more,” she said.
Geraldine felt her husband had planned the whole thing because Tobie did not want to let him join his business. She said she wished she could have prevented the murders, but could do nothing against her aggressive husband.
She and her two children are now totally destitute. They live with a relative, but are being threatened with eviction, and welfare authorities want to take her children away.
”I desperately need help. I need work and a place to stay. I will do anything, even sweep floors,” she said.
Sentencing Koekemoer, Judge Natvarial Ranchod said Koekemoer’s behaviour might have been premeditated, as he had taken his firearm with him when he went to stop the alleged argument between the couple.
There was no reason for the shootings, except the alleged argument. The question remained, however, why one would shoot the woman if she was arguing with her husband and why he would have shot the man simply because he did not want to take him into his business.
The judge said the only mitigation was Koekemoer’s age and the fact that he had pleaded guilty. The remorse he expressed was, however, only because he was caught. — Sapa