4
NUUS | NEWS
Thursday, 10 November 2011 MURDER
Pastor’s killers found guilty NIKITA SYLVESTER FOUR men have been found guilty for murdering a pastor and hanging him from a tree. They, along with one woman, were convicted in the Western Cape High Court on 4 November. The state alleged pastor Karel Thomas (53) had been murdered on 20 February last year, when four men assaulted him, tied a rope around his neck, bound the rope to a tree and then kicked over the computer monitor on which Thomas had been standing. The fifth accused, Natasha Simons – a young prostitute who lured Thomas into the bushes in Kramat Street, Macassar, and offered him her services – has been acquitted of murder. She was, however, found guilty of robbery with aggravating circumstances. Investigating officer Carl Rosenberg said the four men, Roberto Matinka, Christopher Adams, Leroy Sass and Adrian Bosman, were found guilty on charges of murder and robbery with aggravating circumstances. Thomas was last seen on 20 February 2010, leaving his home to take a drive. After, as it is believed, he was lured into the bushes by Simons, the four men appeared, assaulted Thomas and then robbed him of R4 000 cash, his watch and his car. Their final act was to hang him from a tree and leave him to die. Rosenberg said Thomas’s body was found the morning after the murder at around 06:00 by a Somalian man who had gone into the bushes to pray.
Sandra Thomas (53) said she can’t understand how they could have murdered her husband. “He was never rude or hurtful to anyone,” she says. “He was such a good person, and would always go out of his way for everyone.” With tears in her eyes, she spoke of the many years they shared together. “We’d been married for 29 years, but had been together for 40 years; he was my first boyfriend.” Thomas left behind not only his wife, but also their four children, Reeves (29), Elistene (23), Razaack (20) and Kirvin (16). Sandra explained that her husband had been the breadwinner of the family, and said he took good care of them and made sure they lacked nothing. “I miss him every day; I miss having him around. I always believed he would still come home, but I am starting to accept it now.” Sandra said last Friday’s court hearing marked the first time she was present for the trial and heard the case in so much detail. “The Bible says if you commit a crime you will be punished for it, and that is what should happen to them who killed my husband,” she said. “I don’t believe that my husband intended to sleep with that prostitute. He had a rare form of cancer that meant he was not able to be intimate.” Sandra said that the family knew the four men quite well.
“The day before Karel was murdered Christopher [Adams] helped him with his tyres, and Karel gave him R10 for his trouble. It is just not right what they have done to him, and to me and my family.” The five convicted will appear in the High Court tomorrow (Friday 11 November) for sentencing.
Pastor Karel Thomas was hanged from a tree and left to die.