Brothel owner’s killer given stiffer sentence

Cape Town-130913-Cape Town Magistrate Court-Murder co-accused Octavia Mulder (seen with an unknown family member, possibly her father), for the murder of Pedro Lopez in Oranjezicht-Reporter-Jade Otto-Photographer-Tracey Adams

Cape Town-130913-Cape Town Magistrate Court-Murder co-accused Octavia Mulder (seen with an unknown family member, possibly her father), for the murder of Pedro Lopez in Oranjezicht-Reporter-Jade Otto-Photographer-Tracey Adams

Published Jun 26, 2014

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Cape Town - A plea-bargain sentence agreement of 20 years for a man who pleaded guilty to murdering a brothel keeper was “too lenient”, said Judge President John Hlophe.

 

Trevor Daries, who was found guilty of murder and robbery with aggravating circumstances, entered a plea agreement with the State in the Western Cape High Court on Wednesday.

Daries admitted killing Oranjezicht brothel owner Pedro Lopes, who died after he was stabbed several times in his home on May 8 last year.

Daries was arrested with his girlfriend Octavia Mulder, who was employed by Lopes as an escort agent.

The Mitchells Plain couple had gone to Lopes’s house to collect money owed to Mulder. When Lopes refused to give Mulder the money, a scuffle ensued. An armed response unit was called but by the time members arrived Daries had escaped over the balcony of Lopes’s house.

 

In her plea agreement Mulder, who was charged with defeating the ends of justice, said she had been hiding upstairs when the attack occurred, and did not tell police that the man who killed Lopes was her boyfriend.

Judge Hlophe sentenced Mulder to four years’ direct imprisonment.

However, because she was sentenced in terms of a specific section of the Criminal Procedure Act she will only serve a sixth of the sentence in prison and the remainder under correctional supervision.

The State and Daries’s lawyer, Yaseen Rawoot, had initially agreed that Daries serve 20 years in prison on both counts, which would run concurrently.

 

The court adjourned and following consultations between Megan Blows, for the State, Rawoot and Daries, Blows and Rawoot presented a new agreement.

 

Judge Hlophe said he was “satisfied” with the increased sentence, and jailed Daries for 25 years.

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Cape Argus

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