A father of four who bashed in his wife’s head with a hammer and then claimed it was her own fault for threatening to leave him lost his appeal in the Pretoria High Court on Monday.
Judges Lettie Malopa and Brian Southwood dismissed an appeal by Phillimon Thole (36) of Jouberton against his conviction and sentence.
Klerksdorp Magistrate LP Virtue sentenced Thole to 15 years for the April 2000 murder of his wife, Kedibone Eliza Thole.
Mrs Thole, a vegetable and fruit vendor, was the sole breadwinner for the family when her husband attacked her with a hammer during an argument, ignoring his 15-year-old daughter’s desperate pleas that he stop.
Thole not only had a previous conviction for assaulting his wife, but she had also obtained a domestic violence interdict against him shortly before her death.
The magistrate said the restraining order clearly did not have the desired effect, as Thole had ”killed his wife like a dog” just five days after the interdict was served on him.
The unemployed Thole claimed during his trial he had planned to kill his wife and then himself and that he had attempted to commit suicide by drinking paint thinners shortly before the incident.
He claimed the fear of losing his wife had prompted him to commit the crime, as she had left him before when he was unemployed.
Advocate NW Seabi argued that Mrs Thole had been ”the author of her own misfortune”, which led to her death, and that Thole should be released immediately so that he could go and take care of his family.
Advocate Jannie Kriel, for the state, said it was aggravating that Thole had attacked his wife in front of his daughter, chased the child away when she tried to stop him and then continued with his ”vile and evil deed”.
Kriel said any argument that Mrs Thole was to blame for her own demise ”would be an offence against decency and public policy”. — Sapa