Three men have been convicted of the murder of Ashburton building contractor Bob Hudson-Bennett.
|||Durban - Guilty.
That was the verdict of Pietermaritzburg High Court Judge Rishi Seegobin on Monday in the case of three men charged with the murder of Ashburton building contractor Bob Hudson-Bennett.
Judge Seegobin convicted Mzwakhe Mdlalose, Sandile Mncwabe and Sphamandla Mkhize of the callous murder of 61-year-old Hudson-Bennett, who was stabbed in his home.
All three are from Imbali. They were 19, 21 and 22 at the time of the murder and pleaded not guilty.
However, Judge Seegobin found that the evidence against the three, which included detailed testimony from accomplice witnesses, was overwhelming.
Hudson-Bennett was asleep in bed when he was woken by intruders on the night of February 5, 2011.
He got up to investigate and was stabbed to death in the lounge. Blood stains were found in the lounge and the passage from the bedroom.
The court heard that a gang of six men had planned to rob a different house that night, but abandoned their plan when they found it was well secured.
They decided to walk around the area looking for another house to rob when they saw two cars leaving Hudson-Bennett’s home and decided to break in there instead.
The six robbers cut a hole in the surrounding fence and made their way into the open-plan lounge, kitchen and dining area. They ransacked the lounge and dining room, taking a computer, guitar, bicycle, DVD players, cellphones, CDs and a portable CD player.
They took these outside and left them at the hole they had cut in the fence.
While this was going on, Hudson-Bennett awoke and disturbed the intruders.
He was stabbed once in the chest and the robbers fled.
Sentencing is expected on Tuesday.
Daily News