A young life ended in an abhorrent and cruel manner, a family’s aspirations torn apart and the chilling conduct of the murderer who returned home afterwards to have sex with his girlfriend left a judge with no choice on Wednesday but to hand down the harshest possible sentence.
With nothing but a photograph to remember her by, Wendy Beyi’s mother, Lungiswa, 39, said she was happy with the life sentence imposed on the man who dragged the Port Elizabeth girl from one room to another as he bludgeoned her to death.
Blood splatters on every wall of the semi-built Motherwell house spoke to the sustained and vicious attack on the 14-year-old girl.
Presiding judge Glenn Goosen said: “This was a dreadful crime carried out with shocking violence.
“To treat it as anything less would bring about an injustice.”
Hand clapping and expressions of “thank you, Lord” could be heard from the gallery of the Port Elizabeth High Court as Xolani Nyangwa, 26, was sentenced to the maximum term of imprisonment – life behind bars.
As he was led away by police, upset women from NU29 expressed relief that their own children, similar in age to Wendy, would no longer have to fear the cold-blooded murderer.
Nyangwa held a bright pink towel over his head as he tried to avoid photographers.
Goosen said he had chosen to remain silent throughout, leaving Wendy’s family without any explanation for the terrible events that had occurred.
Wendy would have turned 15 three weeks after the deadly attack.
During the night of September 30 2017, Goosen said the grade 8 pupil was subjected to the most horrific violence.
During the course of the struggle, two braids were torn from her scalp. While she was lying on the ground, Nyangwa used a cement block to deliver a blow to her head, so severe it caused a large depressed fracture in her skull.
She was then set alight and the fire destroyed her body from mid-torso down.
When police made the gruesome discovery the following day, her tiny frame was still smouldering.
“The evidence suggests an extraordinary degree of violence,” Goosen said.
“It is difficult to conceive the degree of violence that was meted out by [Nyangwa] and what the victim experienced in her last moments.”
The judge said the process of killing Wendy placed it in the category of the most serious cases.
“[Nyangwa’s] conduct after the event points to a callousness that is noteworthy.
“After bludgeoning [Wendy] to death and setting her body alight, he returned home.
“There he proceeded to have sexual intercourse with a woman he had left there earlier in the night.
“This is chilling conduct,” he said.
Having found Nyangwa guilty of murder, with no premeditation, Goosen said the prescribed minimum sentence was one of 15 years’ imprisonment.
The defence had submitted in mitigation of sentence on Friday last week that Goosen should blend the punishment with a level of mercy, and therefore impose a lesser sentence.
“I am not so persuaded,” Goosen said, adding that a sentence of 15 years or less would be unduly lenient.
“It would not adequately reflect the outrage that must rightly be felt by society when faced with such egregious violence visited upon a child.”
He said Nyangwa also posed a serious threat to society.
“To plea for mercy rings hollow. He has remained silent throughout.
“We are left without any explanation for what occurred and have no understanding of his view of the crime.
“He is, of course, not to be punished for silence.
“But he cannot obtain the benefit of sympathy without taking the court into his confidence and without a measure of acceptance of responsibility for his conduct.”
He agreed with state advocate Marius Stander that the only suitable sentence was one of life imprisonment.
Lungiswa said afterwards that she was happy and could finally move towards closure after the killing of her only child.
Community member Nokwamkela Sundu, 46, said their own children could not sleep at night because of what had happened to their young neighbour.
“What happened to Wendy is cruel and painful. We are very happy with the sentence.”
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