A Limpopo man who was found guilty of killing his 30-year-old pregnant girlfriend and the attempted murder of another woman, was given hefty sentences for the gruesome crimes.
Sammy Samuel Baloyi was sentenced in the Polokwane High Court this week, to 20 years for the murder of his five-month pregnant girlfriend, one year in prison for violating a protective order, and 10 years for attempted murder.
The sentences would run concurrently, resulting in a 25 jail term.
Limpopo police spokesperson Colonel Malesela Ledwaba said the 29-year-old man was convicted of brutally killing his girlfriend at her home in December 2018.
He was found guilty of hacking another woman, aged 36, with a panga three years later.
The court heard that the accused stabbed his girlfriend several times with a knife on her stomach on New Year's eve while at her home village in Makgopong.
He then fled the scene and the deceaseds body was discovered by community members, said Ledwaba.
Police said Baloyi became the primary suspect because the deceased had a protection order against him due of his violent personality.
He was linked to the case through forensic evidence found at the scene.
With a speech and hearing disability, Baloyi was eventually detained, but the case was dismissed due to a lack of hearing aids.
The accused attacked another woman in 2021 who was staying at his grandmothers place in Sekgweng village, as a student traditional healer.
Police said the woman was watching television with members of her family when the accused struck her with a panga and severed her fingers and ears. He then fled to Mokopane, but was apprehended shortly after the incident.
He was also declared unfit to possess a handgun .
