Had convicted murderer Shireen Crozier, who stabbed her boyfriend 104 times, admitted to killing him in self-defence, she would be a free woman on Friday.
In the Wynberg regional court in July magistrate Robert Henney found Crozier, 43, guilty of the murder of Dion Coetzee, stating at the time that although Crozier had acted in self defence it was not necessary for her to have stabbed Coetzee more than twice.
Crozier stabbed her abusive boyfriend 104 times in April 2004.
During her testimony, she told the court that hours before the killing she had been tied up and had to watch Coetzee rape a young relative.
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| 'After acting irrationally, it was no longer a stabbing frenzy' |
On Wednesday Henney said: "If she told me 'I wanted to kill him because he attacked me and I wanted to get rid of him because of the abuse', I would have acquitted her."
Dressed in red, a teary Crozier arrived in court for sentencing on Wednesday leaning heavily on her new husband Abraham Adriaans.
But the sentencing was postponed to Monday as the court sought to call a witness from Lentegeur Hospital, where a clinical psychologist had suggested Crozier be referred for therapy.
Henney said he could think of three scenarios when he made his finding in the case.
The first scenario being that Crozier committed the murder because of her history of abuse and that she must have thought "enough is enough".
The second could be that it was a spur of the moment action, with Crozier defending herself and responding to an attack.
The third scenario was one in which Crozier kept stabbing Coetzee and only stopped "when he let go of her".
"You question yourself when you think of the third scenario.
"After acting irrationally, it was no longer a stabbing frenzy, discharging stress.
"The rationality was that she stopped when he released her. That was rational," said Henney.
Testifying during mitigation of sentence, clinical psychologist Martin Yodaiken, who had evaluated Crozier prior to her conviction, placed before the court a report saying psychological factors led to the stabbing.
Yodaiken said he interviewed Crozier for five hours.
He said her history of abuse as a child and in her relationships with men possibly played a role in the incident.
Crozier at least once reported being sexually molested by her father as a child.
Henney asked Yodaiken: "How do you break the cycle because we need to find that as a matter of urgency or she'll find herself there again. Either she'll be killed or kill again."
Yodaiken argued that there was a limited chance of Crozier accumulating that degree of stress again and that she didn't demonstrate any potential to commit a violent act.
He said Crozier needed therapy where she would work with people who would look at her clinical and psychological issues.
Henney again asked: "Can this be undone at this level? It's part of her upbringing."
Yodaiken said emotions can change with treatment.
He said Crozier had the ability to succeed in treatment and was a good candidate for therapy.
"She has shown remorse and shame for her actions and empathy for the deceased and his family," he said.
- This article was originally published on page 10 of Cape Argus on August 23, 2007
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