Sheriff to serve long term
2009-06-04
THE previous Sheriff of the Court of Wellington will be spending the next 18 years behind bars for the murder of his wife two years ago. This sentence was passed down to Johan Strauss in the Bellville Magistrate’s Court last week. Strauss cold-bloodedly stabbed his estranged wife, Minette Jordaan-Strauss (39), to death while she waited for her son outside a pre-primary school in Durbanville on 14 August 2007. This was done in full view of other parents and their children. Hereafter he fled in his BMW to Bainskloof, were he attempted to commit suicide, by driving off the edge of the mountain. In handing down his sentence, Regional Magistrate, Johan Vermaak, found that although Strauss was guilty of premedi- tated murder, it was not planned ahead of time. He also stated that Strauss’ emotional state, before and after the incident, served as extenuating circumstances, thus a minimum sentence of life would not have been a fair judgement.
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