Boland serial killer Johan Williams has been convicted on 19 of the 20 charges he faced in the Western Cape High Court, including the murders and kidnappings of three women.
Judge Rosheni Allie handed down judgment over two days this week, finding Williams guilty of the charges. Williams had pleaded not guilty to all charges during trial.
The rape charge Williams faced in connection with Maria Isaacs was discharged on February 13, due to her body having already been at an advanced stage of decomposition when her skeletal remains were found on a Boland farm during 2018 following her mysterious disappearance during 2012.
Judge Allie said that Williams, who elected to not testify and not call any witnesses, had not taken the court in his confidence to provide evidence and challenge the State’s evidence.
“In fact the decision of the accused to not testify, impedes the closure required by the victims and their family in coming to terms with the brutal and violent crimes perpetrated on them or their loved ones,” said Judge Allie.
Judge Allie further said that Williams’s section 220 admissions and him pointing out the burial sites of his three murder victims – Isaacs, Chantell Matthysen and Natalie Jonkers – provided “proof beyond reasonable doubt that (Williams) perpetrated the counts that he is guilty of”.
During the trial, the court heard the women were each lured by Williams under false pretences before he murdered them and buried their bodies at farms in the Boland.
According to court documents, Williams had kidnapped Jonkers after luring her with promises of assisting with obtaining a loan before killing her through “committing acts of violence unknown to the State”.
He had lured Matthysen and Isaacs with promises of securing a job for them. He raped and killed the women before burying them.
The matter was postponed to March 4 for sentencing proceedings.
Cape Times