Cape Town - Convicted for the murder and rape of 37-year-old Bianca Matroos; Revticken Muller, has been sentenced to life imprisonment in the Circuit High Court in George.
Muller, 40, was further sentenced to 10 years imprisonment for rape.
He was convicted in the Western Cape High Court in February.
Matroos’s body was discovered in an open field at the George Riding Club on November 17, 2019, after a night out a club in George.
According to Western Cape spokesperson, Eric Ntabazalila the court found the murder was premeditated.
“The successful conviction and plausible sentence follow an intense investigation by members of the South African Police Service (SAPS), who followed the movements of the deceased and the accused, using CCTV footage from the nightclub to where her naked body was found at the George Riding Club.
“The two sentences will run concurrently and he is effectively sentenced to life imprisonment,” he said.
During the trial, the court heard Muller met with Matroos at Club Nitro in George on November 14, 2019 and during the early hours of the next morning he forced her into a vehicle with his friends and drove off.
She was last seen in his company. Matroos’s body was found between two concrete blocks in the unkempt grounds of the George Riding Club.
Muller was arrested at the same club where he met the victim.
During judgment, Judge E Steyn said the deceased was a small, slender, young woman who was viciously and brutally murdered.
“How callous was the accused to return to the club about a week later even wearing similar clothing.
“I experienced the accused as indifferent, bordering on defiant. The multiple, often incoherent, often contradictory versions of the accused when testifying and the statements put, or not put to witnesses show that he is a skilled, devious, cunning liar,” Steyn said.
The court said it is satisfied the State proved their case beyond reasonable doubt.
Western Cape Director of Public Prosecutions, Advocate Nicolette Bell welcomed the sentence.
She said the NPA’s concerted efforts to fight gender-based violence are bearing fruit as the courts are handing down heavy sentences which fit the heinous crimes committed by accused persons.
“We know that the wounds of the Matroos family are not yet healed, but we hope that they will find solace knowing that this accused will be in prison for a long time for the crimes he committed on their loved one,” Bell said.