Convicted murderer Wesley Neil Julyan (34) was sentenced to four terms of life imprisonment and five years for arson by the Mtunzini High Court near Richards Bay  yesterday (Tuesday).

The sentences will run concurrently.

ALSO READ: Wesley Julyan found guilty of murder and arson

He was found guilty of strangling his brother brother Jeffery Julyan (34), Jeffery’s son Ethan Julyan (9), Jeffery’s step-daughter Kayla McKenna (16) and Jeffery’s father-in-law, Peter McKenna (73) in a Capston Drive, Mtwalume house in December 2017.

Convicted of murder back in 2003, Julyan was sentenced to 13 years’ imprisonment in 2004.

Julyan and a co-accused were convicted in 2004 of murdering 51-year-old Amanzimtoti man Kenneth Gary van Aardt in 2003. Mr van Aardt was strangled with a shoelace and his body buried in a shallow grave in a bushy area near Julyan’s home in Mtwalume. Julyan’s co-accused pleaded guilty under a plea bargain deal and was sentenced to 15 years in jail. Julyan, who was 18 years old at the time, pleaded not guilty and was sentenced to an effective 13 years’ imprisonment.

He was released on parole in 2009 after serving five years of his sentence. His co-accused was released on parole in 2010 after serving six years. Julyan’s parole ended in February 2018.

The NPA’s Natasha Kara said, “The NPA in KwaZulu-Natal welcomed the sentence and hopes that it serves as a deterrent for other like-minded individuals.”

Read more in tomorrow’s Herald.

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