Three men have been found guilty of the rape and brutal murder of a university student in South Africa.

Hannah Cornelius, 21, was driving her friend, Cheslin Marsh, 22, home in Stellenbosch, west of Cape Town, during the early hours of May 27, 2017 when they were carjacked by four men.

The men robbed and assaulted Mr Marsh with bricks until they thought he was dead, before brutally raping Ms Cornelius, stabbing her in the neck and crushing her skull with a rock.

Hannah Cornelius was brutally gang-raped and murdered (Picture: Jamie Pyatt News Ltd)

Geraldo Parsons, 27, Vernon Witbooi, 33, and Eben van Niekerk, 28, laughed and smirked as they were found guilty of the rape and murder of Ms Cornelius and the kidnap, robbery and attempted murder of Mr Marsh at the Western Cape High Court.




A fourth man, Nashville Julius, 29, was found guilty of kidnapping and robbing the friends.

Ms Cornelius was threatened with a screwdriver to her chest through the open window of her VW Citi Golf as she chatted with Mr Marsh outside his block of flats.

The three men from left (Vernon Witbooi, Geraldo Parsons, Eben van Niekerk) were found guilty of the murder and rape of the student and Nashwill Julius (right) was found guilty of kidnap and robbery (Picture: Getty Images)

The men pushed Ms Cornelius between the two front seats and robbed Mr Marsh of his phone and cash and locked him in the car boot.

The three men then drove to a drug dealer’s home to smoke crystal meth, before driving out of Stellenbosch and pulling over near a local vineyard.

They reportedly dragged Mr Marsh out of the boot and made him lay his head on a rock on the ground before battering his skull with bricks until they thought he was dead.

Cheslin Marsh was viciously assaulted with bricks until the men thought he was dead (Picture: Jamie Pyatt News Ltd)

Ms Cornelius was then driven to another area where she was brutally gang-raped and thrown in the boot of her own car.

Parsons previously told the court that they only intended on stealing Ms Cornelius’ car and that the incident spiralled after they saw the two students still inside.

He claimed she agreed they could have sex with her – as long as they did not hurt her and let her go afterwards.

The large boulder used to murder the student (Picture: Jamie Pyatt News Ltd)

Parsons said Ms Cornelius ‘did not scream or fight when they raped her’, according to News24.

But after this brutal attack, the thugs drove to a secluded spot where they stabbed her neck twice and crushed her skull with a large boulder.

The court heard from state pathologist Dr Deidre Abrahams who said the boulder would have killed her instantly.

The court heard Ms Cornelius would have died instantly after the boulder was dropped on her head (Picture: Jamie Pyatt News Ltd)

She said: ‘The skull is made of very strong bones. It is not easy for a skull to break or crack, unless a lot of power is used to break the skull.’

After the murder, the men went on a crime spree in the hijacked car, robbing at least three women, before the stolen car was spotted and chased by police.

The three men were arrested after the high-speed pursuit and police later caught up with Nashville Julius.

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