Woman gets say in parole of ex-hubby

Published Jun 18, 2003

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A man in Tafelsig, Cape Town who has been sentenced to life imprisonment for murdering his mother-in-law and attempting to murder his then eight-months pregnant wife in July 2001, should not be allowed parole before his former wife has addressed the parole authorities.

Judge Jolyon Knoll also ruled in the Cape High Court on Tuesday that the transcripts of the judgment and files of the case should be sent to the department of correctional services and form part of his record.

Erefaan Cassiem pleaded not guilty to murder, rape, attempted murder, indecent assault and robbery with aggravated circumstances.

Delivering judgment on Monday, Judge Knoll said the court accepted the evidence of Cassiem's former wife, Amanda Fourie, and found that Cassiem "did not tell the whole truth and watered down the seriousness of the case".

The court found that Cassiem had physically assaulted his wife on several occasions during their marriage and had approached Jerome Patrick and a third person on July 7, 2001 to help him murder his mother-in-law.

The third man refused and left, but Patrick accepted the offer.

On the day of the murder, the accused allegedly woke a pregnant Fourie and asked if she was sure she no longer wanted to continue their relationship.

She said she wanted to end the marriage.

The accused then allegedly hit her and dragged her to her mother's room where she saw Patrick.

She lost consciousness at one stage, but once she regained it, she saw Patrick strangling her mother with a telephone cord.

The two men then allegedly indecently assaulted Fourie.

Cassiem later threatened her and said she would soon be a corpse.

Fourie pleaded with him not to kill her and told him she still loved him. She survived.

Judge Knoll convicted Cassiem of murder, attempted murder and robbery with aggravating circumstances.

However, he was acquitted of raping his mother-in-law.

In passing sentence Judge Knoll said she must express the court's dissatisfaction with cases of violent crimes involving men attacking their wives.

She said Fourie had chosen to end the relationship because of repeated violence, and her decision led to the murder.

She recommended that Cassiem be psychologically assessed and entered into a programme for sexual offenders.

Cassiem was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder as well as 27 years for the other convictions. The additional sentences are to run concurrently with the life sentence.

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