The trial court found that the murder a woman committed, in which she set her home alight with her boyfriend inside, was premeditated, but this aspect came into question by Kimberley High Court Judge President Pule Tlaletsi.
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An arsonist murderer who was convicted for setting her dwelling alight with her partner and their child inside had her life imprisonment sentence discounted by the Northern Cape High Court.
The State accused Elisa Tsilo of pouring out petrol to set their house alight during a domestic dispute, which also claimed the life of another person. She was sentenced in October 2017.
The trial court found that the murder in count two was premeditated, but this aspect came into question by Kimberley High Court Judge President Pule Tlaletsi.
The incident emanated from an argument in which Tsilo’s boyfriend allegedly harassed her for money to buy drugs.
Tsilo, who maintained her innocence during trial when she pleaded not guilty, appealed against her sentence.
She was convicted on four charges - arson, two counts of murder, and assault with intent to cause grievous bodily injuries.
Maintaining her innocence, Tsilo’s version of events was that on the day in question, she quarrelled with her boyfriend, who demanded money from her to buy some drugs.
Court documents detailed: “She refused to finance his lust for drugs. He became aggressive and fought her in the sitting room. During their struggle, they knocked down a petrol container. The petrol spilled over the floor. The deceased left her and rushed to the kitchen and said he was going to check whether the stove was on. In his absence, the fire started from the refrigerator area. She ran to the bedroom where their child was. She grabbed him and hurriedly exited the house.
“She expected the deceased to exit the house through the kitchen door. To her surprise, she saw the deceased exiting the house through the sitting room door which was on fire. Neighbours came to assist in putting the fire off. The refrigerator that was in the sitting room is operated by gas. She suggested that the petrol that spilled on the floor was ignited by the flame of that gas refrigerator.”
Her boyfriend was taken to hospital but succumbed to his injuries.
In judgment, Tlaletsi said: “The determination of the controversy about where (Tsilo) poured the petrol is in my view not singularly determinative of premeditation. As I have alluded to above, whether petrol was poured on the deceased in the bedroom or was poured in the sitting room does not take the respondent’s case anywhere for purposes of establishing premeditation. It is, however, evident that the factual finding by the trial court that (she) poured petrol on the deceased whilst lying on the bed is a factor that played a pivotal role.
“In this case, there is no evidence, and it was never the State’s case that Tsilo mentioned that she was going to kill the deceased, or that she locked the deceased in the room and poured petrol in all the other rooms to ensure that the deceased could not escape death.
“It was also not the State’s case that Tsilo had earlier acquired the petrol as part of her intention and plan to kill the deceased. The fetching of petrol from the outside room, the pouring thereof, be it either on the deceased lying in bed in the bedroom or around the sitting room and igniting it, is part of the direct intent to kill and not premeditation.”
Tsilo will now continue serving her sentence, which was backdated to 2017 - having to date served about eight years already. She will now serve the remainder of her discounted sentence.
Tlaletsi was, however, critical of the murderous arsonist attack.
“That does not justify the selfish and cruel conduct by Tsilo. The setting alight of the house is deplorable conduct. The death of the deceased was brutal. This incident must have caused an outrage to the small community of Gong-Gong.”
chevon.booysen@inl.co.za