The Western Cape High Court has convicted an abusive boyfriend of the premeditated murder of his ex-girlfriend, Allison Plaatjies, whom he beat up, bit, stabbed, and slit her throat.
Phillip April, Plaatjies’ ex-boyfriend, was also convicted of stealing her vehicle. April had previously denied this charge, claiming that she had given him permission to drive her car.
Eric Ntabazalila, a spokesperson for the Western Cape National Prosecuting Authority, stated: “This conviction follows the State declining to accept the accused’s guilty plea when he confessed to Plaatjies’s murder.”
The accused said in his guilty plea that he and Plaatjies were romantically involved and that on October 26, 2019, she showed up at his friend’s house where they were watching rugby and drinking. Plaatjies, he claims, persuaded him to accompany her to her flat because she had brought him something to eat.
Plaatjies, April claimed, was not pleased with him drinking alcohol, and she told him she was going out with her friends. When April asked Plaatjies why she had taken him away from his friends when she knew she would be going out with her friends, the two got into an argument.
When the argument heated up, April grabbed Plaatjies by the throat and choked her before going to the kitchen to get a knife and stabbed her. He got another knife after the first one broke and slit her throat.
April then removed his blood-stained tracksuit pants and threw them in the shower. He left the apartment to sleep at his mother’s house.
The accused went on a drinking binge with a friend two days after the murder, while driving Plaatjies’ vehicle. On their way to Clanwilliam, the two stopped in Graafwater and Citrusdal, where he was arrested on October 28, 2019.
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE: ‘Dishonest’ Illegal Mining Kingpin Dumisani Moyo Denied Bail
Rene Uys, the state’s attorney, declined April’s plea because she believed his story was not complete and there was insufficient evidence to prove it was not a premeditated murder.\
Ntabazalila said: “Advocate Uys called five witnesses who testified that the accused and the deceased were no longer in a romantic relationship during the murder.
“The accused requested to see the deceased on 25 October 2019, but she refused. He then showed up at her work, Cederberg Primary School, bringing her lunch and requesting her keys to her flat under the pretence that he wanted to do her washing.”
Advocate Uys established, with the assistance of witnesses called by the State, that April and Plaatjies had an argument outside a friend’s house and drove together to her flat, where he beat her up while sitting on top of her, went to get a knife, and stabbed her.
He fetched another knife after the first one broke and slit her throat.
According to pathologist Dr Linda Liebenberg, who performed Plaatjies’ post-mortem, the accused is also said to have bitten parts of her face. “Dr Liebenberg also testified that the deceased had wounds on their face, her back, the back of her neck and wounds on her hands indicating that she fought back. The accused never mentioned these injuries in his plea. The deceased was a victim of a brutal attack by the accused. The accused does not deny killing her but excludes the bulk of the pain he inflicted on her before her premature death,” said Ntabazalila.
April’s attack was revealed to be unrelenting; he did not appear to have paused to reflect on his actions. “She was alive for the bulk of her injuries and fought hard to be alive. Her efforts were fruitless in the unrelenting attack by the accused. The level of anxiety she experienced before her death, according to Dr Liebenberg, was severe.”
Advocate Uys also established that the accused stole the deceased’s car. Ntabazalila said: “The state submits that it is obvious that she could not consent to him using her vehicle after killing her.”
“He stole her car and used it the entire weekend. Even after being informed that the deceased was in an accident on 27 October, 2019, he tried to convince his friends to drive to Cape Town in her car.”
The case has been postponed to December 1 for sentencing.