A Bellville South man has been sentenced to 25 years in the mang after pleading guilty to mercilessly beating his 93-year-old ouma to death.
Nearly three years after the shocking death of ‘Oumie’ Cynthia Doubell, her step grandson, Keagan Samuels, 27, has come clean about the circumstances of her death.
Cynthia’s body was discovered on 1 August 2021 after she had been attacked and allegedly raped in her home.
Samuels handed himself over to police and appeared at the Bellville Magistrate’s Court where he abandoned his bail application.
He was initially charged with rape, but this charge was withdrawn.
He returned to the Western Cape High Court this week for the finalisation of his plea agreement where he outlined what transpired.
Samuels said the day before the murder he had worked in Elsies River and returned to the family home at about 3pm but could not recall seeing Cynthia there.
He later joined his friends and drank rooi wyn but said he wasn’t gesuip.
He then went home and found food on the stove but before he could eat he saw Cynthia, who suffered from dementia, trying to leave the house ‘half naked’.
Samuel’s plea statement reads: “She only had on a top on and her bottom half was draped in a towel.
“He slammed the gate shut and yelled at her. She resisted and a physical struggle ensued, the way she reacted made him very angry.
“He slapped her and in the heat of the moment he also kicked and stepped on her.
“He can recall hitting her in the face and on her chest, but not where on her body he stepped on her.
“After the assault she was lying on the floor, so he picked her up, placed her on the bed and left her there.’
Later, two relatives arrived at the house, and when Cynthia asked for water Samuels allegedly refused saying she had food and water in her bedroom.
He said the next day he left home, and on his return he saw police and went to the police station, where he handed himself over and admitted to assaulting Cynthia.
National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson, Eric Ntabazalila, said Samuels was sentenced to 25 years but will only serve 20 years.
Ntabazalila explains: “The court suspended five years of that sentence for 10 years on condition that he is not convicted for murder or attempted murder committed during the period of suspension.
“The parties agreed to the sentence as Samuels had displayed genuine remorse for his actions by handing himself over to the police, was capable of rehabilitation and that a lengthy period of direct imprisonment would assist in reaching the objectives of sentencing.”