Cape Town - Marthinus van der Walt showed no emotion as the Western Cape High Court found him guilty of murder of Stellenbosch doctor Louis Heyns on Tuesday.
Judge Andre le Grange found the 35-year-old Van der Walt guilty of murder and robbery with aggravating circumstances but acquitted him on a charge of kidnapping, saying the State had not proved that the paediatrician had been hijacked and then taken to a notorious gay hotspot in the Strand.
The doctor went missing on the evening of May 22 2013, after leaving his brother's house at about 8.20pm. His body was found in a shallow grave on the Strand beachfront eight days later.
Van der Walt's version of events was described by Le Grange as unconvincing. He said despite Van der Walt admitting that he had killed the doctor, his testimony was dotted with contradictions and made up of fabrications and lies.
Earlier in the trial, Van der Walt had testified that Heyns had arrived at the known male prostitution spot looking for sexual favours. He claimed the doctor insulted him, causing him to lose his temper. He then beat, kicked and strangled Heyns until his brother Sarel finally pulled him off the doctor. When he tied Heyns up with shoelaces, he realised he had no pulse. He left the body and drove in Heyns's car to Gordons Bay to try and sell it, but was unsuccessful. He then returned to the crime scene to bury the body.
The judge pointed out that Van der Walt had admitted that there was no money on Heyns, calling into question his claims that the doctor wanted to know the price for sexual favours.
Le Grange said that Van der Walt had also overplayed the role of drugs and alcohol in the crime and said that in fact the accused knew exactly what he was doing.
He said Van der Walt's main motive was to steal the car.
Van der Walt looked gaunt and withdrawn throughout the judgement and covered his face with his hands when his victim's daughter took the stand.
Eldale Swart, 30, told the court her father was a loving and caring man and that his death had left a terrible gap in the family. She said he had been passionate about his job and had never complained.
Struggling to hold back tears, she told the court how he had brought her into the church on her wedding day just six months before he was murdered.
She said it broke her heart to see her mother's future without him. One of three siblings, she said her older brother was due to become a father himself next month, but Heyns would not be there to see it.
Swart said the family had been robbed of all those special moments.
Heyns's colleague, Doctor Sharon Cling, who worked with him for over 22 years, also testified in aggravation of sentence.
She described him as a dedicated paediatrician who had spent long hours at the intensive care unit at Tygerberg Hospital. She told the story of one girl in the tracheostomy unit who had stayed there for 20 years as she was permanently on a ventilator. Heyns would spend hours talking to her, and when he could, he would take her home to visit her family with the aid of a mobile ventilator. The girl died last month.
Cling said Heyns had been passionate about education and was “more than a lecturer and teacher, he was a champion for students.”
She said Heyns's death had left a massive void in South African paediatrics.
The judge found all the State witnesses to be reliable.
Earlier in the trial, Heyns's wife Dalene testified that they had been married for 33 years and she had never questioned his sexual orientation.
Outside court, Dalene Heyns was too emotional to talk to the media. Her brother, Andre Mouton spoke on behalf of the family. He said the family was coping well, but it was difficult because of the way he had died.
As the rain came down, Mouton glanced up at the sky sadly and recalled how it was cold and wet the day they were told Heyns's body had been found.
He called Van der Walt's conviction “bittersweet” and said he hoped he would receive a life sentence.
Van der Walt has a string of previous housebreaking convictions, dating from 1995 up until 2009. He is due to be sentenced for Heyns's murder on Thursday.
ANA