Man jailed for life after three murders and attempted killings in KwaZulu-Natal.
Image: FILE
The Ntuzuma Regional Court has sentenced Peterson Booysen to life imprisonment plus 45 years after he was convicted on three counts of murder and two counts of attempted murder in KwaZulu-Natal.
Booysen, who lived in the Amaoti area, was convicted over two separate violent incidents that occurred in 2021 and 2023, which left multiple people dead and others injured.
In the first incident on March 7, 2021, he assaulted and stabbed his neighbour to death following a dispute over the alleged theft of a cellphone.
He fled the scene and was arrested six months later. After an opposed bail application by the State, he was released on bail but later absconded, leading to a warrant for his arrest.
"He was arrested six months later. Following an opposed bail application by the state, he was released on bail. He subsequently absconded, resulting in a warrant being issued for his arrest, but he remained at large," said National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Natasha Ramkisson-Kara.
In a second incident on August 17, 2023, Booysen and two accomplices were involved in a shooting in which two people were killed and two others injured, including Chinese national Yulong Chen, who owned gambling machines in the Inanda area.
The court heard that Chen and his employees were accosted by armed men, leading to a shootout in which Chen and one of Booysen’s accomplices were killed, while two employees survived gunshot injuries.
The court also heard evidence from Prosecutor Nqobile Africa, including an identity parade in which Booysen was positively identified, as well as victim impact statements detailing the trauma suffered by survivors and bereaved families.
Booysen was also declared unfit to possess a firearm.
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