Man convicted of ‘heinous’ crime spree

A NORTHERN Cape man, Elwin Jonkers, has been convicted of seven criminal charges, including attempted murder, two counts of robbery with aggravating circumstances, the unlawful use of a vehicle, assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm, malicious damage to property, and one gruesome murder in which he removed the eyes of his victim.

The Northern Cape High Court heard that the first robbery charge related to an incident on May 28, 2022, in Danielskuil. Jonkers, along with two other men, assaulted and robbed a man, Thabo Tsatsi, who was on his way home from the barbershop.

According to the State, Tsatsi was attacked by the three men, who beat him with a knobkerrie, stabbed him with a knife, and cut him with a panga. They took R200 from him before he managed to escape and seek refuge in a nearby house. Tsatsi sustained several injuries, including a laceration to his left hand.

One of Jonkers' alleged accomplices has since died, while the third was never identified.

The court heard that about two weeks later, on June 13, 2022, after reportedly smoking a mixture of tik and mandrax, Jonkers went on a violent rampage. He first assaulted and stabbed a 13-year-old girl on her way to a tuck shop and stole a parked car in his attempt to flee from the scene, before later killing a man on a smallholding.

The State revealed that Jonkers stabbed the teenager multiple times with a knife or sharp object before demanding R10, which she handed over. She suffered multiple injuries.

“The 13-year-old was sent to the tuck shop and the accused (Jonkers) followed her while she was on her way. The accused tripped the victim and when she fell to the ground, he sat on top of her. The accused stabbed the victim several times with a knife or sharp object while sitting on top of the victim. The accused demanded money and the victim gave him the R10 she had on her. The accused then ran away from the victim. The victim sustained several injuries to her left shoulder, left side of her chest and her wrists. After the attack, the accused ran to a filling station,” said the State.

The court heard further that, at the filling station, Jonkers broke into a parked vehicle by smashing its window with a fire extinguisher. Using the same knife from the earlier attack, he started the car and attempted to flee. However, he damaged the car during the escape and abandoned it near a smallholding outside Danielskuil.

At the smallholding, Jonkers confronted a 77-year-old couple, demanding entry into their house. They called for assistance from an employee, Hendry Jacobs, who also lived on the smallholding. When Jacobs and his partner, Amanda, arrived at the house, they found Jonkers still on the premises. Jacobs confronted him and demanded that he leave.

A struggle ensued and Jonkers attacked Jacobs with a grass cutter, killing him.

Judge Albert Nxumalo described the attack as "heinous" and detailed the severity of Jacobs' injuries.

“The accused admitted that at the time he stabbed the teenager, stole the car and attacked Jacobs, he was under the severe influence of drugs … Notwithstanding that the accused was under the influence, he was also acting out of character. He accepted that despite being under the influence, he could understand what he was doing,” said Nxumalo.

“In one of the autopsy resorts, the doctor observed the complete deforming of the face of the deceased with a big hole to the side of the head. The nose of the deceased, teeth, and airwave pipes were totally destroyed. The deceased suffered multiple fractures to the front and back of the skull. Bleeding under the skull was also detected. From the description of these injuries, it is clear that the deceased did not just suffer a mere head injury.”

He said the testimony from the deceased’s partner, along with the police findings during Jonkers’ arrest, spoke volumes about the severity of the incident.

“The deceased’s life partner said that she ran into the laundry room when the accused hit the deceased with the grass cutter. She said she did not see what happened after she ran into the laundry room. She said the accused dragged the body of the deceased into the washing room and he (the accused) was talking to non-existent persons. She said the accused acted in a manner in which a rational person would not. She said the accused then peeled away the flesh of the deceased. The eyes of the deceased were found on a counter in the laundry room,” the judge said.

Nxumalo added that although the State argued that the murder was premeditated, he could not find that Jonkers had planned the crime.

“The accused talked to non-existent people, removed the eyes of the deceased and thereafter jumped into the washing machine. He tried to flee through a window when he was arrested. His behaviour shows that he was not in a rational mind. The court finds that there is no evidence beyond reasonable doubt that the accused had a sequence or pattern to kill the deceased. There was no planning present in the commission of the crime,” Nxumalo said.

The case was postponed for sentencing.