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One of the two accused at the Michael Van Eck murder trial, Chane van Heerden inside the court. Picture: Charl Devenish, Foto24.
She’s evil and she’ll kill again. She should never get out of jail. This is the reaction of Welkom residents as the 20-year-old woman convicted of beheading and dismembering 23-year-old Michael van Eck was sentenced to 20 years in jail on Friday.
“This murder was horrendous. It was premeditated and, surely, the person who did it should never step out on the streets again. All the psychologists say the same thing, that if she gets out, she will kill someone else,” said Reverend George van der Westhuisen of Christ Church in Welkom.
Local police agree, saying the brutality and callousness of the killing pointed towards psychopathic behaviour that would be repeated – possibly over and over again.
Charne nan Heerden was, on Friday, convicted of killing Van Eck in the city’s most brutal ever murder. She pleaded guilty and was as emotionless when sentencing was handed down as she was when she took the stand and outlined grisly details of how she committed the crime.
Van Eck was killed on a cold Saturday evening in early April at the entrance to the town’s graveyard. His body was moved to a secluded spot behind a row of trees a few hundred metres away, where his head, arm and legs were cut off. His body was found at 5pm the next day sticking out of the ground, covered only by a few handfuls of dirt. His face had been skinned and was found alongside his head in the fridge of the garden flat Van Heerden and her boyfriend Maartens van der Merwe shared. Van Eck’s arm was found buried in the garden, along with the bodies of two cats.
The two were arrested at the flat 48 hours after the body was found.
Van der Merwe, 24, was diagnosed with schizophrenia when he was 14 and is currently undergoing psychological evaluation to determine whether he is fit to stand trial. He is to appear in court again in February. Van Heerden, though, was convicted, having pleaded guilty to the April murder.
Advocate Johan de Nysschen, acting for the state, said behind Van Heerden’s little-girl-lost façade was a monster who would kill repeatedly.
“They researched everything to do with the dark side of humanity and found pleasure in the killing and mutilation of their victim,” he said. “Once you are programmed to kill, you will do so again and again.”
In the wake of the murder, fear, shock and horror continue to grip residents of Welkom.
The sheer brutality – and persistent talk of occult and Satanist links – has left many residents too scared to let their children play in the streets.
Tammy Botha still shudders when she thinks about what happened. Botha lives next door to the flat where Van der Merwe and Van Heerden were arrested. She was at home when the arrests were made.
“It seems impossible. You never thought that something like this could happen anywhere, especially not here. The hair on my neck still stands up when I walk past that house. People might think I’m weird, but to me that place just seems evil now,” she said.
Botha said the incident had had an effect on her family.
“I’m so scared of something like this happening again. I have my children living with me here and I can’t help thinking that one of them could have been the next victim.
“We don’t let the children play in the front yard alone any more. When a car stops outside at night we have to get up and check, because you just don’t know,” she said.
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Under the skin of the Welkom killer