Convicted killer Marthinus van der Linde has been sentenced to life imprisonment for fatally stabbing his ex-wife at a pharmacy in Joubertina in 2020.
On Monday, Van der Linde, 48, was convicted on a charge of premeditated murder after Gqeberha high court acting judge Victor Nqumse found the state had proved beyond reasonable doubt that he had planned the murder of his ex-wife, Maritsa.
In handing down his sentence on Thursday, Nqumse said Van der Linde had displayed no remorse for his actions and could not prove any substantial or compelling circumstances for the court to deviate from the prescribed minimum sentence of life.
He was sentenced to a further three years for assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm in relation to an attack on his former mother-in-law.
The sentences were ordered to run concurrently.
Van der Linde had admitted to attacking Maritsa, 43, with a knife on February 25 2020, but maintained it was not his intention to kill her.
Van der Linde had entered the Kloof pharmacy in Main Road, Joubertina, where Maritsa and her mother, Drusilla Vorster, worked, at about 8.30am that day.
While Maritsa was standing at the cash counter at the entrance to the pharmacy, Van der Linde grabbed her from behind and, armed with a knife, dragged her to the back of the store.
He then stabbed her several times and left her for dead.
Vorster was stabbed in the abdomen during the attack, but survived.
Van der Linde was arrested at the scene.
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