Cape Town — The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has welcomed the sentencing handed down by the Western Cape High Court to murder accused, Cassidy Hartzenberg
The 20-year-old Hartzenberg was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment for the murder of his aunt, Magistrate Romay van Rooyen, and received a further six year for the theft of her vehicle. The sentences will run concurrently. NPA Spokesperson, Eric Ntabazalila says a pre-sentence agreement has been reached with the offender, SABC News reported.
“I must say it’s a very sad day that we handing down a sentence to a nephew of Romay Van Rooyen, a former colleague who was an advocate in the NPA for years, but later moved to the magistrates position.” Ntazabzbilia said.
“It’s a very sad day that we are handing down a sentence to someone who confessed that the magistrate was looking after him and his family emotionally and financially, and they had a good relationship. The only challenge that was there is that on the day of the murder, he asked for money and she refused to give him money. He was a drug user.” he added.
Cassidy Hartzenberg was sentenced to 20 years in prison for murdering his aunt, Magistrate Romay van Rooyen, after a plea and sentencing agreement was accepted by the Western Cape High Court on Friday.https://t.co/NRq6ggQnPL
— News24 🇿🇦 (@News24) March 1, 2024
According to IOL, van Rooyen was found murdered in her home on 10 September 2022 after the family became suspicious when she did not answer any phone calls. Hartzenberg attended the funeral with his family, and was invovled in the funeral processions. After the funeral, he was identified as the main suspect.
He confessed to the court how he killed van Rooyen when he visited her at her home looking for money. She refused and got up to to go to her bedroom. Hartzenberg followed and began strnagling her. He said she fought for her life but he could not control his anger.
He later took van Rooyen’s vehcile and drove to Mitchell’s Plain, where he abandoned it. He admitted that he knew that what he was doing was wrong and illegal.
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Compiled by Matthew Petersen
