Johannesburg - Judge Tshifiwa Maumela was caught in a quandary on Thursday when he sentenced Tertia Vukomanovic, the woman convicted of murdering her husband Tomislav.
On the one hand, Tomislav had been physically, emotionally and financially abusive to his younger wife, with their final argument being the reason for the crime of passion.
On the other, the loss of life had left Tomislav’s mother destitute and the couple’s child - who was in their home at the time of the killing - psychologically damaged.
As State advocate David Mothibe argued in closing, Judge Maumela had to be lenient enough to show his condemnation of spousal abuse, but harsh enough to ensure that other victims of abuse are not inspired to take the law into their own hands and kill their abusers.
Vukomanovic was convicted in December of murdering her husband by firing a gun through a closed bathroom door as their intense argument became increasingly violent.
On the night of the 2013 murder, Tomislav had been using drugs, and Vukomanovic said he had head-butted her, spat at her and threatened her with a broken glass.
While she claimed he had been attacking her directly when she fired the bullet that claimed his life, forensic experts showed the bullet hole in the bathroom door meant this was not the case.
Vukomanovic has been appearing in the high court sitting in Palm Ridge in connection with her husband’s murder.
On Thursday, Judge Maumela chastised Vukomanovic for not taking the court into her confidence and telling the truth, but noted the mother had taken her then eight-year-old son and handed herself over to the police.
The judge acknowledged the State had not contested Vukomanovic’s claims of abuse, as she had documented proof of the domestic violence charges she had laid against him.
But he also noted that, like many victims of abuse, she returned to her husband time and again.
In the State’s victim impact statement, it was revealed by a social worker the couple’s 11-year-old son insisted his father had died in a car accident, and his mother was “going on a long holiday and he does not know when she will get back”.
His schoolwork had suffered, and he had developed violent tendencies, according to the report.
Tomislav’s mother, Marina, had been supported by her son.
Despite Vukomanovic’s lack of remorse, Judge Maumela said compelling circumstances, namely the abuse she suffered, meant he would be able to deviate from the minimum sentence of 15 years in prison.
“But a life was lost. A child lost his father. A mother lost her son,” said the judge, who acknowledged the sentence would have to be a mix of condemnation and mercy.
Vukomanovic was sentenced to 10 years in prison, with three years suspended.
While she maintained her composure throughout proceedings, it was during Judge Maumela’s summary of the report concerning her son that Vukomanovic teared up.
But by the time the sentence was handed down, she returned to an apparent emotional neutrality.
@ShainGermaner
The Star