Shock twist after mum murdered for engagement ring while baby slept
A man already sitting in jail for murder has been convicted for killing a young mum while her one-month-old baby slept in a neighbouring room in order to steal her engagement ring.
The young woman was brutally killed when she confronted her attacker in her home in Port Elizabeth in South Africa's Eastern Cape province.
The conviction puts to bed a shocking murder story which made national and even global headlines back in 2018.
Police hunting the killer of Kelly Bain, 26, put fingerprints into a nationwide database system to try and find the attacker who had stolen his victim's engagement ring and was searching the house when he was confronted by her fiancé who had come home for lunch.
During that process, authorities found a match with Sizwe Jika, 28, already serving a 20-year jail term for the murder of 86-year-old Anne Smit in Kamma Parkalso in Port Elizabeth in May 2018.
Police spokesperson Colonel Priscilla Naidu said Ms Bain had confronted the killer after he entered her Shabani Road home in Brymore in Port Elizabeth on 25 July 2018.
“He overpowered her and stabbed her multiple times before taking her engagement ring off her finger,” she said.
“While rummaging through the house, Jika was surprised by the appearance of Christopher Bonus, Bain’s fiancée, who had come home for lunch. A struggle ensued between both men and Jika managed to escape.”
Jika had been arrested four months later in September but escaped from a police station, but was then arrested again a month after that.
As well as the existing jail term for murder he is also serving a 16-year sentence for six housebreaking cases committed between January 2011 and July 2018. His sentences will run concurrently with the life sentence.
“Jika is also expected to appear in court for the murder of Anne Ferreira, 83, found strangled and murdered in May 2018.
Provincial police commissioner Lieutenant-General Liziwe Ntshinga said it was clear that Jika, “has no respect for human life” and had attacked vulnerable women.
“To commit such heinous crimes in a space of three months shows that he lacks emotion and is a heartless and ruthless criminal.”
Australscope
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