A 22-year-old woman has been found guilty of decapitating and dismembering a former Monifieth grandmother at her home in South Africa.
Sandra Malcolm, 74, was stabbed by Sheree Prince, 22, as she tried to treat her killer’s burned foot.
Mrs Malcolm had given the young woman toast and tea after she broke into her home in Cape Town.
Prince will be sentenced on April 19, finally bringing an end to Mrs Malcolm’s family’s long hunt for justice.
She admitted in court papers that she had cut off Mrs Malcolm’s head and limbs after the grandmother treated her injured foot and fed her.
Prince claimed she stabbed Mrs Malcolm when she said she was going to call an ambulance, as she feared she would contact the police instead.
She said she had scalded her foot when she kicked over a pot of soup as she was leaving an address she had been staying at after robbing a house.
Prince said she then travelled to the Cape town suburb of Lakeside and broke into Mrs Malcolm’s flat through an open window.
She woke her victim as she was clambering inside.
Her statement said: “I told her that I climbed through the window, that I was looking for help and showed her my burnt foot.
“We then went into the kitchen where she gave me Savlon mixed with water to wash my foot. She then made me toast and tea.
“The woman said she was going to phone for an ambulance. I said no and grabbed the knife. I told her I would stab her if she called the police. She tried to take the knife from me.
“I stabbed her in her chest once and she fell to the ground. I wanted to leave, but saw her trying to get up.
“I then killed her by decapitating her with the big knife.”
Prince’s horrifying statement continued: “I tried to cut her body in order to take it apart. I sent a message to my father using the woman’s phone, saying: ‘Ek’s in groot kak (I’m in deep s***), help.’
“I then cut off both of her arms and tried to cut off her legs, but failed to remove them completely and then I used an axe to chop it off.”
In his judgement Judge Bruce Langa said the manner of Mrs Malcolm’s death would be considered when Prince is sentenced next month.
He said: “I accept the report by the forensic pathologist that the deceased was stabbed 24 times. This does not alter the accused’s guilt, but will be relevant for purpose of sentencing.
“The accused totally dismembered the deceased. She removed her head and all the main limbs: legs, arms and knees completely.
“An attempt to cut both her thighs in half was unsuccessful. An attempt to cut the upper torso in half was also unsuccessful. There is no justification to kill the deceased unless she planned it. It was planned and she wanted to dispose of the body,
Police arrested Prince at her father’s house a few days after the murder.
Prince made her first appearance in court in May 2015 but changes to her legal team and psychiatric tests delayed her trial for years.
Mrs Malcolm was originally from Monifieth but had lived in South Africa for 35 years.
Her body was discovered by her grandson in her home at Marina Da Gama, Cape Town.
