A Grahamstown painter was yesterday sentenced to life in jail for the murder of local policeman Warrant Officer Alby Julius last month.
Anthony Swartz, 32, was sentenced to a further 15 years for robbery with aggravating circumstances.
The sentences, which will run concurrently, were met with cheers, jeers, clapping and fist pumps from Julius’s friends and family who packed the public gallery in the Grahamstown High Court.
Swartz was mocked and shouted at while being led back down to the cells below the courtroom.
Swartz this week pleaded guilty to the brutal August 6 murder and robbery of the off-duty policeman.
He said in a plea statement he had spotted the 48-year-old police detective walking home late at night seemingly under the influence of alcohol.
He had decided to rob him and had walked up to him and stabbed him several times in his upper body. He took his cell phone and R1500 from his wallet.
Swartz smiled and nodded knowingly when Judge Thamie Beshe yesterday said she could not find any substantial or compelling circumstances that would warrant anything less than the mandatory minimum sentence of life imprisonment for the murder.
Beshe said that Swartz – who has a list of previous convictions – had over the years shown a complete disregard for the rights of others, including their right to bodily integrity and property rights.
She said he had identified the inebriated Julius as an easy target to rob. He had killed him and helped himself to his property.
She said Swartz, who had been employed as a painter earning R2400 a month, had not committed the crime out of need.
Beshe said she was not convinced Swartz had shown any real insight into the seriousness of his crimes or that he had any genuine remorse.
In an unusual move, Julius’ wife of 14 years, Belinda, was granted the right to hand up a victim statement to the court minutes before sentencing.
In it, she pleaded for the maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
“I am alone staying in a home I shared with my husband for the whole time we were married. I never again want to see Anthony Swartz walking the Grahamstown streets as a free man.”
She said Julius had been well liked by the community and his police colleagues and did not deserve the gruesome and violent death at the hands of a habitual criminal like Swartz.
She later told the Dispatch she was relieved by the sentence.
“My husband was a humble, good man and everybody who knew him loved him.”
Family relieved as G’town cop killer gets life sentence
Anthony Swartz, 32, was sentenced to a further 15 years for robbery with aggravating circumstances.
The sentences, which will run concurrently, were met with cheers, jeers, clapping and fist pumps from Julius’s friends and family who packed the public gallery in the Grahamstown High Court.
Swartz was mocked and shouted at while being led back down to the cells below the courtroom.
Swartz this week pleaded guilty to the brutal August 6 murder and robbery of the off-duty policeman.
He said in a plea statement he had spotted the 48-year-old police detective walking home late at night seemingly under the influence of alcohol.
He had decided to rob him and had walked up to him and stabbed him several times in his upper body. He took his cell phone and R1500 from his wallet.
Swartz smiled and nodded knowingly when Judge Thamie Beshe yesterday said she could not find any substantial or compelling circumstances that would warrant anything less than the mandatory minimum sentence of life imprisonment for the murder.
Beshe said that Swartz – who has a list of previous convictions – had over the years shown a complete disregard for the rights of others, including their right to bodily integrity and property rights.
She said he had identified the inebriated Julius as an easy target to rob. He had killed him and helped himself to his property.
She said Swartz, who had been employed as a painter earning R2400 a month, had not committed the crime out of need.
Beshe said she was not convinced Swartz had shown any real insight into the seriousness of his crimes or that he had any genuine remorse.
In an unusual move, Julius’ wife of 14 years, Belinda, was granted the right to hand up a victim statement to the court minutes before sentencing.
In it, she pleaded for the maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
“I am alone staying in a home I shared with my husband for the whole time we were married. I never again want to see Anthony Swartz walking the Grahamstown streets as a free man.”
She said Julius had been well liked by the community and his police colleagues and did not deserve the gruesome and violent death at the hands of a habitual criminal like Swartz.
She later told the Dispatch she was relieved by the sentence.
“My husband was a humble, good man and everybody who knew him loved him.”
Would you like to comment on this article?
Register (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Trending Now
Latest Videos