Relief at sentence for âTable Mountain killerâ
By Shanice Naidoo
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Cape Town - âHe was ferocious. His eye narrowed, he was focused, his lips were drawn back from his teeth,â
This is how Malcolm Esterhuizen described his attack in 2018 by Blessing Bveni, the man known as the Table Mountain killer.
Bveni was sentenced to two life sentences plus 33 years, in the Western Cape High Court, this week, for his crimes committed between 2017 and 2018.
Bveni was convicted on charges of robbery, assault, attempted robbery, robbery with aggravating circumstances, attempted murder and two murders.
He was arrested on March 14, 2018.
Esterhuizen welcomed the sentencing. He said he was just glad it was over because it was brought back up every time he had to go to court.
Judge Judith Cloete characterised Bveni as cruel and coldhearted.
Blessing Bveni, who was infamously dubbed the Table Mountain Killer, received two life sentences for the murders of a cyclist and a hiker in 2018
Bveni, 33, was sentenced in the Western Cape High Court for the murders of Douglas Notten and Ian McPherson who were killed in January and March 2018, respectively, in Table Mountain National Park.
He was also sentenced to an additional 33 years, to run concurrently, for the attempted murder and robbery with aggravating circumstances of Malcolm Esterhuizen, the assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm of David Bucklow and the robbery with aggravating circumstances of Megan and Domain Steel as well as the robbery with aggravating circumstances of Notten
The man known as the Table Mountain Killer, Blessing Bveni has been sentenced to two life terms plus 33 years in prison. Judge Judith Cloete said the 33-year-old had planned his attacks, stalked his victims and was a “cruel and cold-hearted person”.
Bveni, from Zimbabwe, had targeted mostly hikers and cyclists in the Silvermine area above Fish Hoek from October 2017 to March 2018.
The double life sentence was for the murders of Ian McPherson and Doug Notten. Bveni was sentenced to a further 33 years’ imprisonment for the attempted murder and robbery of Malcolm Esterhuizen, assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm on David Bucklow, as well as the aggravated robbery of Megan and Damian Steel and Julia Notten.