Delmas High Court sends murderer of Secunda-pensioner to 2 life terms in prison

Ms Cathrynne Pelser welcomed the judgement against Taelo Steven Mathabatha, who confessed to the rape and murder of Ms Corrienne Tesner (62) on 23 February 2019, Ridge Times reports.

“It was a very emotional time for our family, having to re-live the trauma again. We respect the judge’s sentencing and admire the way she handled the case,” said Ms Pelser.

She and her brother, Mr Darryn Pelser, found their mother’s body under some blankets in the granny flat adjacent to their home in Hodgson Street late that afternoon.

The 33-year-old Mathabatha pleaded guilty on all six charges brought against him in the Delmas High Court on 5 October.

The court on 9 October meted out two life sentences respectively for the murder and the rape of Ms Tesner, 15 years’ imprisonment for robbery with aggravating circumstances, five years’ imprisonment for each of the two housebreaking with the intent to steal and theft charges, and three years’ imprisonment for assault with the intention to do grievous bodily harm.

The last four sentences are to run concurrently with the life sentence for rape.

One of the housebreaking charges and the charge of assault stem from the event that led to Mathabatha’s arrest on 12 April last year.

Mathabatha broke into Mr Walter van Niekerk’s home in Okavango Street while Mr Van Niekerk was in the shower that night. Mr Van Niekerk chased after Mathabatha, and neighbours helped to apprehend the burglar. Mathabatha was eventually handed over to the police.

Sgt Bongani Mabaso, the investigating officer in the Tesner-case gave the Ridge Times a glimpse of how the investigation into the murder panned out.

“We went house to house trying to find clues. We eventually found CCTV footage of a tall person in the street close to the time that Ms Tesner’s son left for work at about 1am. However, the footage was not clear enough to identify the man in the video.”

Ms Tesner’s car could be seen being driven off some time later.

Sgt Mabaso said the case haunted him because he was reminded of his own mother and he could not bear the thought of seeing something so gruesome happen to her.

The police had to apply for a court order to access the records of Ms Tesner’s stolen cell phones.

“There were many numbers, but one stood out,” said Sgt Mabaso.

“An African man answered the phone, so I pretended to be a motorist who urgently needed a mechanic. The man identified himself as Taelo and directed us to a mechanic in his neighbourhood.”

“I wrote that name down and often looked at it during the course of the investigation.”

Sgt Mabaso was on duty the night Mathabatha was arrested and brought to the police station.

When Mathabatha took the police to his home in eMbalenhle to verify his address, something struck Sgt Mabaso as oddly familiar. Mathabatha’s brother identified him by his African name, Taelo.

“It was as if a light went on and I knew this was the murderer. We searched his room and found Ms Tesner’s DVD player.”

Sgt Mabaso and his team took Mathabatha back to the Secunda Police Station where they showed him a copy of the Ridge Times’ front page story about the murder and Ms Tesner’s photo and then also the crime scene photo.

“He cried while he confessed to stabbing Ms Tesner. She put up a huge fight and he raped her to reward himself for his efforts,” explained Sgt Mabaso.

Mathabatha gave the stolen phone to a friend who sold it to a pawn shop in Witbank. Mabaso’s team was able to track it down.

Mathabatha sold Ms Tesner’s car for R4 000 to a scrapyard in Leboungomo, Limpopo.

“We were in a lot of danger while we searched for the vehicle in that township,” Sgt Mabaso said. They eventually found it abandoned near the mall.

“A thorough forensic search of the car yielded evidence of Ms Tesner’s blood.”

Sgt Mabaso is satisfied with the double life sentence meted out and he is very proud of the investigating team.