Christo Onkce has been sentenced to 17 years behind bars for murdering a man because he was gay.
In a crime that shook the sleepy farming town of Ceres in March 2014‚ Onkce invited teenagers who were drinking at a dam to witness him “killing a moffie”.
Olyne had been beaten‚ kicked and tied up with wire. His charred remains were found in a dilapidated pumphouse on a farm just outside town.
During the trial‚ Onkce told the court that he attacked David Olyne – who was 21 at the time – because he touched him and tried to undress him. Although he admitted to fighting with Olyne‚ he claimed that he had left him alive.
Judge Siraj Desai convicted Onkce of murder in January. Desai also found that Onkce had set Olyne alight and described the killing as a “crime of hate”.
State prosecutor Ntsoaki Mabilietse advocated for life imprisonment. But the court found that Onkce is intellectually challenged and spared him life imprisonment.
But the investigation into the killing is set to continue. Desai ruled that Onkce had not acted alone and ordered that the docket be kept open.
- TMG Digital/Cape Newsroom
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