Johannesburg - In a case that shares more than a few similarities with the trial of Paralympian Oscar Pistorius, a woman found guilty of shooting her lover through a bathroom door is planning on asking for a suspended sentence or correctional supervision.
Tertia Vukomanovic was convicted in December of murdering her husband Tomislav through a bathroom door at their home in Norwood, Joburg.
Tertia insisted that despite a happy marriage to begin with, Tomislav became increasingly abusive, had been abusing drugs and that on the night of the murder in October 2013, he had attacked her.
She claimed he had charged at her with a broken glass, head-butted her and spat on her before she fired the shot that pierced his arm and chest, killing him. But she was unable to explain to the court the bullet hole in the bathroom door that the State alleged Tomislav had been behind when he died.
The theory that Tomislav was in fact in the bathroom and not in the middle of an attack when he was killed was corroborated by Chris Mangena, the same forensic specialist who testified in Pistorius’s trial.
He pointed out that there was no other explanation for the injuries Tomislav sustained and the bullet hole’s location.
On Monday, sentencing was adjourned to March 7 by the high court sitting in Palm Ridge for a pre-sentencing report and victim-impact statement from the Department of Correctional Services.
Tertia’s lawyer, Piet Khenene, indicated he would ask the court for a suspended sentence or correctional supervision for his client, much like Pistorius’s initial sentencing.
But Judge Tshifhiwa Maumela indicated he had not believed Tertia’s version of events in its entirety, and that if she had been defending herself from abuse, she had gone too far.
While she was found guilty of the murder, she was acquitted on two other charges of possession of an illegal firearm and possession of illegal ammunition.
Bail of R5 000 was extended.
The Star