Johannesburg – Thirty-two-year-old lifer John Leonard du Plooy has been slapped with another life sentence for murder, plus 15 years imprisonment for aggravated robbery.
Du Plooy is already serving two life sentences and additional 30 years imprisonment for the Springs and Alberton murder and aggravated robberies.
He committed heinous crimes against elderly women in June and September 2018.
This week on Monday, the Roodepoort Regional Court sentenced Du Plooy to another life sentence for an August 2018 Roodepoort murder and 15 years on top for aggravated robbery.
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However, the charges related to the Mpumalanga case against Du Plooy that occurred in July 2018 were withdrawn.
Du Plooy will serve three life sentences for Murder and 45 years for aggravated robbery.
Narrating events leading to the cowardly attack on an elderly and defenceless woman, National Prosecuting Authority Gauteng Spokesperson Phindi Mjonondwane said: “On 20 August 2018, the accused, in the company of Shaun Oosthuizen, had gone to the block of flats in Roodepoort and asked a child where an older person lived”.
Mjonondwane said the pair then gained entry and grabbed 77-year-old Lillas Jane Merry, tied her up, and gagged her with a cloth that was then secured with insulation tape.
“They searched her place and found jewellery and cash. They left for Newlands where they later sold the jewellery,” Mjonondwane said.
“Merry’s son came home from work to find his mother in her bed unresponsive and motionless.
“Law enforcement agencies were called, and it was established that she had a laceration on her left cheek and a bloody rag in her mouth. She was declared dead at the scene”.
A post-mortem determined the cause of death to be because of obstruction of the upper airway.
Regional Court Prosecutor, Shadrack Temeki, presented previous records of the accused, which indicated two other offences of the same nature, wherein he was sentenced to life imprisonment in both cases.
“He was questioned about them, and he confirmed that all victims were old people who are deceased, and it was their modus operandi to target old people, gag them and rob them of their possessions,” Mjonondwane said.
Commenting on the same matter, Hawks spokesperson, Captain Dineo Lucy Sekgotodi, said: “The arrest of the two convicts followed the investigation of multiple murders of the four old women who were brutally killed from different old age homes around Mpumalanga and Gauteng Provinces between 2018 and 2019 respectively.”
Du Plooy’s co-accused, 42-year-old Oosthuizen, was sentenced by the Pretoria Regional Court earlier this year on 16 May 2022 to four direct life imprisonment terms, plus 80 years imprisonment.
The Hawks’ Provincial Head, Major General Zodwa Mokoena applauded the investigating team for securing an additional life sentence.
Major General Zodwa Mokoena said: “We appreciate the collaboration between the investigators and judiciary for ensuring that the heartless criminals who tormented the elderly who could not defend themselves are removed from the community”.
She further urged those responsible for the safeguarding of the elderly to take extra precautions as they cannot fight for themselves.
