Handyman killed woman over payment

Luresha Govender with her brothers Navan, left, and Nuren, who said she was 'the glue that held our family together'.

Luresha Govender with her brothers Navan, left, and Nuren, who said she was 'the glue that held our family together'.

Published Oct 11, 2015

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A handyman was convicted this week of the murder of his former employer.

The case was heard by acting Judge Solly Sithole in the Randburg Magistrate’s Court on Thursday.

Anthony Strauss, 39, was hired by Luresha Govender, a former Durban resident, to renovate her Paulshof, Joburg home in December.

During a previous court appearance, Strauss confessed that he “snapped” after arguing with Govender, 36, over payment and used an electrical cord to strangle her.

The dead woman’s brother, Nuren Govender, said the result in court was a “hollow victory”.

“At the end of the day we don’t get our sister back. She was the glue that held our family together. But we’ll take the outcome,” he said.

His sister was excited about a work move to London in February, and was having her house renovated so that it could be let.

The letting agent, who was Strauss’s girlfriend, recommended him to do the work.

Govender was killed on December 30. Nuren found her body covered with a duvet the next day.

“I had arranged a big New Year’s Eve bash with my family. When Luresha did not arrive I went to her house.”

He had to break a window to get in. That’s when he made the grim discovery.

“That memory still haunts me,” he said.

“I can only imagine the pain and the suffering, and Luresha’s desperation in fighting for her life. It has been very difficult for us to accept the way in which she died.”

Strauss faced charges of murder and robbery with aggravating circumstances.

When he was arrested, he offered a full confession to police, in the hope he would be charged with culpable homicide instead of murder.

But the State, led by senior prosecutor Nerisha Naidoo, maintained that Strauss acted with premeditated intention.

In his confession, Strauss said he argued with Govender about his payment, and was provoked when she slapped him, poked him in the chest and asked him to leave her home.

He snapped and wrapped the cord tightly twice around Govender’s neck.

Strauss claimed to have fallen asleep on a sofa, near Govender’s body, while reflecting on what had happened.

He said he woke up the next morning and drove Govender’s car to a Nigerian man to sell it.

In 2010, Strauss was convicted of fraud for being part of a syndicate that fleeced large amounts of money from a pilot’s bank account.

When handing down his verdict, Sithole said Strauss had acted with direct intention because Govender’s neck area was targeted.

He said Strauss’s guilt had been “established and proved beyond reasonable doubt”.

Sentencing was set down for next month.

Sunday Tribune

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