Handing down judgment, Judge Sita Kolbe said: "The State proved beyond reasonable doubt he kidnapped and murdered her."

Steyn was acquitted on a charge of raping De Waal.

Kolbe said Steyn was a "self-confessed liar" who admitted to lying to his wife and his boss.

The judge said it was improbable that a mechanic at his workplace had disabled the tracking system in his bakkie, which helped him because his vehicle could then not be tracked.

She also said it was unlikely that an unknown person placed De Waal's bag in the bin in Steyn's yard.

He was in the vicinity of where the murder took place. His two cellphones placed him there via cellphone towers tracking activity on his phone.

As a result, the only inference that could be made was, "that it was the accused who abducted Louise and subsequently killed her".