Johannesburg -
A life term for each parent he killed. This is the fate of Herman Pienaar of Valhalla - who first shot his father in the head and then his mother.
“You are a violent and manipulative man,” Judge Mahomed Ismail of the high court in Pretoria on Friday told Pienaar.
The 37-year-old, who was living with his parents when he killed them last February 28, showed no emotion as he was led down the stairs to the holding cells to start serving his sentence.
He had pleaded guilty to the double murder and said he was depressed at the time and he actually wanted to commit suicide.
But he changed his mind when he walked past his father who was working on his computer in his study.
“I thought to myself: why should I commit suicide if I can shoot my father?
“I then fired one shot into his head.”
Pienaar’s mother met the same fate as she came running past him to see what had happened.
“I also shot her once in the head. I did not want her to live with the pain that one of her sons had committed suicide and me killing her husband.”
His younger brother committed suicide by hanging himself a few years prior to this incident.
Pienaar discovered his brother’s body and untied him.
He said he tried in vain to save his brother’s life. Herman snr and his wife Christina Pienaar were executed by their drug addict son.
Pienaar made it clear that although he was heavily under the influence of alcohol and drugs at the time, he knew exactly what he was doing.
Pienaar told his former girlfriend after the shooting that he had killed his parents.
He said his father deserved to be killed, but he cried about killing his mother and said she did not deserve to be killed.
A psychologist diagnosed Pienaar as suffering from anti-social behaviour and being addicted to an array of drugs, including heroin, Cat, LSD and alcohol.
He was also said to be manipulative and violent.
He had been expelled from Rhodes University for manufacturing drugs on campus.
Judge Ismail said the killing of Pienaar’s parents was premeditated.
“There is nothing to suggest they were hostile towards you. You decided today is the day that I end my father’s life’. You showed no remorse for what you had done.”
Pienaar told his psychologist that if he was sent to jail for life, he would commit suicide.
The judge said this was indicative of his manipulative behaviour. “Your actions demonstrate a person who thinks he has the power of God and who could simply end his parents’ lives.”
The judge said Pienaar’s actions were cold-blooded and callous and that he deserved to go to jail for a very long time.
Pretoria News Weekend