Henning murder was a hit

The murder of young Pretoria mother Chanelle Henning was a contract killing, the Pretoria High Court has ruled, though the motive remains a mystery.

Yesterday the court found former police officer Andre Gouws and Nigerian former Olympic athlete Ambrose Monye guilty of murdering Henning, 26, shortly after she dropped her four-year-old son at a creche in Faerie Glen, Pretoria, two years ago. Henning died at the scene after the drive-by shooting by two men on a motorbike.

Her parents, Ivan and Sharon Saincis, said yesterday that they were "very excited" that the men had been found guilty. They said that they hoped they would receive life sentences.

The judgment brings to four the number of people convicted of the crime. Former policeman Gerhardus "Doepie" du Plessis and Willem "Pike" Pieterse confessed to participating in the 2011 murder, as part of a plea bargain.

Du Plessis confessed to firing the shots and Pieterse admitted to driving the motorbike.

Gouws is reportedly a close friend of Henning's husband, Nico, from whom she was separated at the time of her death. The couple were reportedly involved in an acrimonious divorce and a custody battle over their son.

The state had earlier claimed that Pieterse, Du Plessis, Gouws and Monye had conspired to kill Henning. Pieterse and Du Plessis, whose evidence Judge Kruger found to be credible, implicated Gouws and Monye in the hit.

Gouws had claimed he was approached by Nico Henning to find men to watch his estranged wife in a bid to catch her taking drugs. Monye said he was asked by Gouws to find bouncers for a club.

But the judge held that Monye and Gouws were liars whose versions of events were fraught with improbabilities and were "irreconcilable" with the facts, and that they had lied to "mask their own complicity".

During his judgment, Kruger said that cellphone records linking the four men supported the evidence of Pieterse and Du Plessis about the role of Monye and Gouws in the murder.

Gouws and Monye will be sentenced tomorrow .