A Student was kidnapped, gang-raped and murdered in South Africa after four men armed with knives stormed her car, a court has heard.
Hannah Cornelius, 21, had pulled up outside the flat of fellow student Cheslin Marsh, 22, at midnight when the attackers rushed towards her car, the judge was told.
One of the gang is said to have held a screwdriver to her chest through the open window while another put a knife to the back of Mr Marsh.
The Western Cape High Court in Cape Town heard one of the gang shouted at him: "Sit still or she dies."
Mr Marsh was robbed of cash and his phone and locked in the car boot, the court was told.
The suspects then allegedly drove to a drug dealer's home to buy drugs and smoked crystal meth.
Magistrates' daughter Hannah was wedged between two of the four men in the back seat of the VW Golf which her grandmother had given to her as a birthday present, the court heard.
They then drove out of the upmarket wine producing town of Stellenbosch near Cape Town and hauled Mr Marsh into the bushes, the judge was told.
Three men allegedly made him lay his head on a rock on the ground and battered his skull with bricks until they thought he was dead.
When Marsh woke up, suffering severe head injuries and a broken arm, he staggered to a nearby home to raise the alarm about Hannah.
Unknown to him her body had been found earlier several miles away dumped by the roadside and a huge police search was already underway for him and the gang.
Hannah had been dragged into bushes at a vineyard and gang-r-ped by three of the suspects, it is alleged.
Her skull was crushed with a large rock and she was stabbed in the neck, the court heard.
She was described as a “brilliant student” and the daughter of magistrate Willem Cornelius and lawyer wife Anna, 56, who tragically drowned 10 months after her murder.
Hannah was a straight-As student and was in her second year at Stellenbosch University, studying for a BA in Humanities.
Vernon Witbooi, 33, Geraldo Parsons, 27, Nashville Julius, 29, and Eben Van Nieberk, 28, face a string of charges including murder, kidnap, robbery and r-pe.
Distraught fellow student Cheslin broke down in tears repeatedly as he told of his ordeal.
Hannah Cornelius, 21, had pulled up outside the flat of fellow student Cheslin Marsh, 22, at midnight when the attackers rushed towards her car, the judge was told.
One of the gang is said to have held a screwdriver to her chest through the open window while another put a knife to the back of Mr Marsh.
The Western Cape High Court in Cape Town heard one of the gang shouted at him: "Sit still or she dies."
Mr Marsh was robbed of cash and his phone and locked in the car boot, the court was told.
The suspects then allegedly drove to a drug dealer's home to buy drugs and smoked crystal meth.
Magistrates' daughter Hannah was wedged between two of the four men in the back seat of the VW Golf which her grandmother had given to her as a birthday present, the court heard.
They then drove out of the upmarket wine producing town of Stellenbosch near Cape Town and hauled Mr Marsh into the bushes, the judge was told.
Three men allegedly made him lay his head on a rock on the ground and battered his skull with bricks until they thought he was dead.
When Marsh woke up, suffering severe head injuries and a broken arm, he staggered to a nearby home to raise the alarm about Hannah.
Unknown to him her body had been found earlier several miles away dumped by the roadside and a huge police search was already underway for him and the gang.
Hannah had been dragged into bushes at a vineyard and gang-r-ped by three of the suspects, it is alleged.
Her skull was crushed with a large rock and she was stabbed in the neck, the court heard.
She was described as a “brilliant student” and the daughter of magistrate Willem Cornelius and lawyer wife Anna, 56, who tragically drowned 10 months after her murder.
Hannah was a straight-As student and was in her second year at Stellenbosch University, studying for a BA in Humanities.
Vernon Witbooi, 33, Geraldo Parsons, 27, Nashville Julius, 29, and Eben Van Nieberk, 28, face a string of charges including murder, kidnap, robbery and r-pe.
Distraught fellow student Cheslin broke down in tears repeatedly as he told of his ordeal.
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