Sentencing proceedings are expected to start in the Western Cape High Court on Thursday, in the case against Adrian Hendricks who was convicted of killing Hawks warrant officer Petrus Holtz in July last year.
On September 19, the court found 22-year-old Hendricks guilty of the murder of Warrant Officer Petrus Holtz, who was fatally stabbed on July 29, 2015.
He was travelling on the infamous stretch of road between Somerset West and Khayelitsha in Cape Town, dubbed the N2 Hell Run.
Holtz, 50, was attached to the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation’s (Hawks’) Commercial Crimes Unit and was on his way to the Bellville office early in the morning, when his car struck rocks placed on the road.
A common modus operandi of criminals, it forces drivers to stop their vehicles, leaving them vulnerable to attacks. In Holtz’s case, two of his tyres were punctured. He immediately phoned for assistance, but in the 10 minutes that it took for help to arrive, he was murdered.
The court found that Hendricks had intentionally placed rocks on the road, and when Holtz’s car pulled over, he pounced.
Judge Robert Henney said he had used brute force to drive a knife 4cm into Holtz’s leg, severing an artery.
Hendricks was convicted on one count of murder, two counts of malicious damage to property, one of attempted robbery with aggravating circumstances and one of robbery with aggravating circumstances. Holtz’s Samsung cellphone and GPS were stolen in the attack.
Less than two weeks before the attack, another motorist had fallen victim to the same modus operandi. Jacques Loots, on July 17, drove over rocks on the same stretch of road, puncturing one tyre.
When he pulled over, Hendricks appeared, pulled out a knife and a struggle ensued. In that case, Loots managed to get into his car and drive away. His cellphone was also stolen.
Holtz was survived by his wife and two children, an adult son and a teenage daughter.
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