Life imprisonment for killer of elderly woman

On Wednesday, November 9 the Roodepoort Magistrate’s Court sentenced 32-year-old Johan Leonard du Plooy, to life imprisonment for killing an elderly woman in Roodepoort in 2018.

Du Plooy was charged with robbery with aggravating circumstances and murder.

In 2018 on August 20, the accused, in the company of Shaun Oosthuizen, had gone to a block of flats in Roodepoort and asked a child where an older person lived.

They then gained entry and grabbed 77-year-old Lillas Jane Merry, tied her up and gagged her with a cloth that was then secured with isolation tape.

The two searched her place and found jewellery and cash before they left for Newlands where they later sold the jewellery.

Merry’s son returned from work to find his mother in her bed unresponsive and motionless.

A call was made to the police and it was established that she had a laceration on her left cheek and a bloody rag in her mouth.

She was declared dead at the scene and a post-mortem determined the cause of death to be because of obstruction of the upper airway.

Regional Court Prosecutor, Shadrack Temeki, presented previous records of the accused which indicated two other offences of the same nature, wherein he was sentenced to life imprisonment in both cases.

The accused confirmed that all victims were elderly, who are now deceased, and it was their modus operandi to target old people, gag them and rob them of their possessions.

NPA Regional Spokesperson-Gauteng Local Division, Phindi Mjonondwane welcomed the sentencing and said that the elderly depends on law enforcement authorities for protection, and the NPA will continue to plead with the courts to have no mercy against those that violate and kill vulnerable groups.

“We extend our gratitude to Lieutenant Colonel Stroh Erhard and Temeki for their meticulous work that ensured that this perpetrator is brought to book,” said Mjonondwane.