The sister-in-law of a murdered Danish millionaire has been leave to appeal her conviction, but his wife has been refused the same.
|||Cape Town - The sister-in-law of a Danish millionaire has been given a chance to appeal against her conviction for covering up his murder. But her sister – the Ugandan wife of the slain Dane – has been refused the same.
Judge Rosheni Allie handed down judgment in the Western Cape High Court on Tuesday in the sisters’ applications for leave to appeal against their convictions and sentences.
Stella Ssengendo and Maria Povlsen were convicted of having been accessories to the murder of Preben Povlsen after the fact. The court found the two had helped conceal Povlsen’s murder, which had been carried out by their brother, self-proclaimed former Ugandan child soldier Francis Kimeze. All three were also convicted for the theft of one of Povlsen’s cars.
Povlsen and Ssengendo were effectively sentenced to a respective eight years and seven years in jail while Kimeze was sentenced to an effective 25 years. So far, Kimeze has not brought an application for leave to appeal.
Povlsen was murdered in his luxury Gordon’s Bay home in the early hours of January 14, 2008, after which his body was stuffed into the boot of his car and dumped along Otto du Plessis Drive.
He’d been stabbed 48 times, had a broken neck and his body had been partially burnt.
Judge Allie dismissed Maria Povlsen’s application but granted Ssengendo leave to appeal against her conviction on the counts of both theft and accessory to murder after the fact.
Maria Povlsen had held a “position of extreme trust” with her husband, the judge said.
leila.samodien@inl.co.za
Cape Times