The court has heard that an Elim woman who was murdered “was hung up like a beast” by her ex-husband.
With sentencing proceedings scheduled to take place on Friday in the Western Cape High Court, the families of the woman who was murdered in Elim by her ex-husband and an accomplice are getting closer to finding some sense of closure, according to News24.
Ashley October and Tashwell van der Rheede were found guilty of the murder of October’s ex-wife Charlene, who was discovered dead in her home in Elim on July 12, 2021. The verdict was handed down on Monday of this week.
October put a rope around her neck in order to make it look like she had committed suicide & strangled her. They had also acted out a robbery, during which Van der Rheede had stolen merchandise from the store as partial payment.
October’s ex-wife was watching her grandchild on the night she was killed while she was babysitting. October rented shop space from his ex-wife on her property.
Alexa Jooste, Charlene’s sister, spoke with Judge Roshnee Allie on Monday about how difficult things have been for the family since Charlene was murdered.
She uttered those words, “I wouldn’t wish this on my worst enemy… ever.”
Jooste added that the only glimmer of hope they had was when Van der Rheede sent them a handwritten note via his lawyer to say he was sorry. This was the only thing that gave them any reason to believe that things might turn out okay.
According to the prosecutor Leon Snyman, Charlene was subjected to severe assault and was strangled.
Snyman pleaded with the judge to make it abundantly clear that any form of violence motivated by gender would not be tolerated.