Four life sentences for Jeppestown serial killer and rapist

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A man who went on a terror spree in Jeppestown and surrounding communities by breaking into dozens of homes and stealing, killing four people and raping two women, has been removed from society for good. Mkhululi Chonco has been handed down four life sentences and multiple years by the South Gauteng High Court for his ruthless crimes. Delivering the sentencing ruling last week, Judge Nomonde Mngqibisa- Thusi ordered that Chonco's sentences must run concurrently with life imprisonment. This meant Chonco will effectively serve one life term. He would be eligible for parole after 25 years in jail. Judge Mngqibisa-Thusi said Chonco deserved to be jailed for life for his crimes. He presented no circumstances to justify deviation from life imprisonment, said the judge.

Chonco would have continued with his devious crimes if he had not been arrested in 2014, added Judge Mngqibisa-Thusi.

“He took advantage of his victims because they were vulnerable,” she said.

Judge Mngqibisa-Thusi in January found Chonco guilty of 125 of the 128 charges he faced. The charges included four murders, two rapes, 11 attempted murders and 33 burglaries.

The crimes were committed over a period of six months between 2013 and 2014.

Prosecutor Maro Papachristoforou revealed during the trial that Chonco often committed his crimes with an unidentified accomplice.

They would break into several homes on a single night.

Chonco and an accomplice broke into four homes on the same street on December 7, 2013, the State's evidence showed.

Stanley Mpofu lost his life to Chonco on March 2, 2014. He was asleep with his wife when they were awoken by the sound of Chonco kicking their door. He demanded their belongings and shot Mpofu dead when he lifted his head from the pillow.

Chonco shot and killed Jackson Madlala when he told him he did not have a cellphone. Chonco and an accomplice had broken into Madlala's home, before shooting him dead.

A young woman was raped by Chonco and an accomplice on February 25, 2014. After robbing her of her money in her room, they raped her and fled.

Chonco was apprehended in Jeppestown on May 3, 2014.