Kimberley - Northern Cape High Court Judge Bulelwa Pakati on Wednesday described Lovers’ Lane murderer, Jimmy Modisenyane, as a cold-blooded killer and dangerous criminal who acted in flagrant disregard of the sanctity of human life.
Pakati then gave Modisenyane two life sentences after finding him guilty on 14 charges, including murder, rape and possession of an unlicensed firearm.
The crimes were committed between July 21 and September 6 2013.
Modisenyane was sentenced to life imprisonment on both charges of rape and murder. He also received two 18-year sentences for each of the two counts of attempted murder, two 15-year sentences for each of the two counts of robbery with aggravating circumstances, seven years for kidnapping, five years for possession of an unlicensed firearm, two five-year sentences for each of the two counts of unlawful possession of ammunition and five years for housebreaking with the intent to steal and theft. The sentences will run concurrently.
The court heard Modisenyane started his crime spree on July 21 2013 when he shot Dudley Nxedlana after he found Nxedlana and his girlfriend having sex on the notorious Barkly Road, dubbed Lovers’ Lane.
He threatened the couple with a gun and shot Nxedlana’s five times in his upper body.
Modisenyane then kidnapped Nxedlana’s girlfriend and drove out on the N8 to Bloemfontein with her. He raped her on three separate occasions.
Pakati said the woman went through a horrific ordeal. “It is unimaginable how she felt when this horrific crime happened to her, not knowing where she would end up with the accused who just shot her partner without mercy.
“Her devastation increased when she tried to get the attention of a truck driver when the car ran out of petrol. However, the accused kept her under his control at all times. I must commend her as a brave young lady. She helped the police apprehend the accused and was able to relate her ordeal to the court unequivocally and answered the questions spontaneously,” she said.
Pakati said Modisenaye left his victims with physical and emotional scars.
“Nxedlana was left in the veld to die after the accused pumped several bullets into his body. He still complains of back pain because a bullet is still lodged in his spinal cord. It can be removed but there is a 50/50 chance that he may then be paralysed. He will have to carry these emotional and physical scars with him for the rest of his life his survival is nothing short of a miracle.”
She said the accused broke the trust of his employer after he broke into their home.
“On September 6 the accused broke into the house where he worked in the garden on Saturdays and stole firearms and jewellery. He sold the jewellery and then proceeded to Lerato Park where he robbed another person of his cell phone.
“When the victim tried to retrieve his cell phone, he was shot in the head and the accused left him unconscious.
“The accused then continued to Roodepan where he attacked and shot Shamim Ahmed, a Bangladeshi citizen, who owns a tuck-shop in the area. Ahmed was killed after the accused demanded money from him and instructed him to open the shack.”
Pakati described Modisenyane as a cold-blooded killer who has no respect for other people’s property.
“The accused was not a stranger to the family for whom he worked. His mother worked for them for 30 years they had formed a special relationship with her. They trusted the accused and gave him a job on weekends.
“He betrayed that trust by orchestrating the robbery. Three firearms were stolen but only one was recovered. The other two are still in circulation and could be used to commit a crime.
“The accused also failed to assist the police with regards to the location of these firearms and also did not take the court into his trust and disclose what he did with them.”
Pakati added that the court had been informed that the man who was shot in the head, who worked as a general worker prior to the incident, could never work again.
“He spent three months in the intensive care unit after he was shot. His had to undergo surgery and attends speech therapy and struggles to construct a sentence.”
She said the accused left a devastating impact on his victims. “The deceased in this matter was the most unfortunate. His siblings and parents live in Bangladesh and his wife, who is the mother of his three children, was not able to bury her husband in Bangladesh due to financial constraints.
“She finds it very difficult to explain to the children when they ask about the whereabouts of their father. The family of the deceased is deeply affected by his death.”
Pakati added that she could not find any mitigating circumstances in the accused’s favour.
“His defence attorney, Dries van Tonder, requested that it be taken into account that the accused is a first-time offender and that he was only 26 years old when he committed the crimes.
“The State, represented by advocate Hannes Cloete, argued that these could not be taken into account as mitigating factors. There is no indication that the accused was immature at the time of the incident.
“The seriousness of the offences outweigh the fact that he is a first-time offender and the possibility of rehabilitation is remote.
“His actions, in my view, show maturity because he orchestrated and planned the break-in at his employer’s house.”
Pakati said due to the weight of the aggravating circumstances a hefty sentence would not be unfair.
“Taking into account the circumstances under which the murder was committed, a sentence of life imprisonment would not, in my view, create a sense of injustice,” Pakati concluded.
He deserves death penalty - families
The families of the people who were killed, raped and injured by Modisenyane said they wished courts could still hand down the death sentence.
Many of them were crying as Judge Bulelwa Pakati went over the sequence of events that led to the injuries and death of their loved ones in the Northern Cape High Court on Wednesday.
Shamilla Ahmed, the wife of Shamin Ahmed, 36, who was shot and killed after Modisenyane tried to rob his tuck-shop in Roodepan, said she could not understand the senseless killing of her husband.
She was pregnant with her third child at the time of the shooting.
“I am not happy with the sentence he received no amount of years in jail will restore what he had done to me and my family. The only thing that would make this right is if he received the death penalty.
“My husband was a good person who provided for his family and now he is no more. My children do not deserve to grow up without a father and my husband did not deserve to die like this. This man showed us no mercy whatsoever,” Ahmed said.
Lydia Bernard, the girlfriend of the man who was left almost paralysed after Modisenyane shot him during a cell phone robbery in Lerato Park, said she also wished for the death penalty.
Her boyfriend was not able to testify in the case because his speech has been affected after the shooting. Bernard said the incident had left financial restraints on her family.
“I am also not satisfied with the sentence. I am now dependent on a social grant for my two-year-old child because the father of my child will never be able to work. He was the only breadwinner and was working before this ordeal, but now will never be able to be employed ever again due to his medical condition.
“It is very tough our entire lives have been turned upside down because of this man’s crimes,” Bernard said.
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