50-year-old murder accused, Edward Thomas Morton, was sentenced to an effective 113 years imprisonment on Thursday for nine counts against him, including the 2010 murder of Edenvale businessman, Mr Louis Deneeghere.
He was also sentenced for the Valentine’s Day murder of Boksburg father of three, Mr Wayne Alberts.
His co-accused in the Alberts murder, Dorinda Ann Barnard, had previously pleaded not guilty.
She was granted a separation of trial, which means she will be tried separately for her role in the murder of Mr Alberts.
On August 6, Morton pleaded guilty in court and his confession was read out.
The confession revealed some of the grisly details which shattered the lives of two families.
On the night of Mr Deneeghere’s murder, Morton waited outside his house.
When Mr Deneeghere arrived home, Morton attempted to rob him. A shot was fired which killed Mr Deneeghere.
Morton then placed Mr Deneeghere’s body in his Volvo station wagon and drove to a remote location close to Vereeniging, where he dumped the body.
He drove back to Edenvale in Mr Deneeghere’s vehicle and broke into his house, before stealing a large amount of money from his safe.
Mr Deneeghere’s car was later abandoned in Cleveland, Johannesburg.
On the night of Mr Alberts’ murder, Morton forced his victim into his silver BMW before driving off with him.
Once in a remote location not far from where he had dumped Mr Deneeghere’s body five years earlier, Mr Alberts was forced out of the vehicle, was tied up and beaten.
When Mr Alberts tried to fight back, Morton strangled him.
Mr Ablerts was left in the field and Morton drove off in the BMW to buy crystal meth.
Morton and Barnard were arrested in Pretoria while driving Mr Alberts’ BMW, a day after his disappearance.
They were released from police custody after 48 hours.
The pair were later rearrested in Durban, before their most recent court appearance in Vereeniging.
Morton was sentenced to two live terms, an effective 50 years imprisonment, on the two charges of premeditated murder.
He also received eight years for kidnapping, 30 years for two charges of robbery with aggravating circumstances, 14 years for two charges of possession of a firearm, three years for possession of ammunition and eight years imprisonment for residential burglary.
Morton’s previous convictions include a string of theft charges from the 1980’s, as well as a robbery conviction for which he was sentenced to 21 years imprisonment.
In the pre-sentence report handed to the court, Morton stated he is a person who “gets aggressive easily, sometimes without reason”.
He also admitted he tried to commit suicide while in custody.
In the report, Morton mentioned to officials that he will not use drugs while in prison because drugs had destroyed his life and was the reason he committed the crimes. He said he will use drugs in order to commit suicide if he has the opportunity.
Mrs Christine van Lingen, the mother of Mr Wayne Alberts, told the NEWS she was relieved Morton was sentenced but knows it will not bring her son back.
“We have to thank the investigating officer Detective Warrant Officer Gideon O’Neil. He has worked 24 hours a day on this case. Without him, there would not be a case against these two,” said Mrs van Lingen.
Barnard’s case was postponed to November 4 for further investigations.
