A vicious killer will spend the next 30 years in prison after being convicted of murdering a 43-year-old woman.

A trip to buy baby milk turned tragic for Philisiwe Ayanda Manyathi (43) from Upper Tugela, who was raped and murdered on July 5 in the Ngoba area near Bergville. Her bag was stolen and her body left hidden in a donga.

She was reported missing by her family the next day.

Police found the body after receiving a tip-off from the attacker’s roommate, a foreign national. The suspect had confessed to his roommate what he had done, showing him the woman’s bag which contained her identity document, a bar of soap and her cellphone.

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The foreign national was arrested and charged, and the case was investigated by Constable Luyanda Malinga from Upper Tugela Detective Services.

He appeared in the Bergville Magistrate’s Court and later in the Pietermaritzburg High Court, where he was convicted and sentenced to 30 years’ imprisonment for rape, murder and robbery.

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