Professor Judith Masters and French boyfriend Fabien Génin were found murdered in their home. (Supplied)
- Three men have been found guilty of murdering two renowned academics.
- Professor Judith Masters and Dr Fabien Gènin were murdered almost two years ago in their Hogsback home in the Eastern Cape.
- The men were also sentenced for robbery and housebreaking.
Three men have been sentenced to life behind bars for the murder of two renowned academics in the Eastern Cape almost two years ago.
The Eastern Cape High Court in Makhanda found that Silindokuhle Mangali, 22, Sakhele Limba, 34, and Wanda Limba, 30, attacked and murdered Professor Judith Masters, 67, and her partner, Dr Fabien Gènin, 50, in their Hogsback home.
On Tuesday, the accused were sentenced to life imprisonment for each of the murders, 15 years for robbery with aggravating circumstances, and five years for housebreaking.
Mangali received an additional life sentence for rape. The court ordered that the sentences be served concurrently.
News24 previously reported that the retired academics were globally and nationally recognised primatologists who had worked for the University of Fort Hare until a year before their murders.
READ | Deveney Nel: Community wants teen murder accused tried as an adult
Masters was a research and zoology professor, and Génin was a senior lecturer at the university. The two did extensive work at the university’s African primate initiative for ecology and speciation research unit.
The couple’s domestic worker discovered their lifeless bodies inside their room. Their hands and feet were bound.
Reacting to the sentencing, Eastern Cape police commissioner Lieutenant General Nomthetheleli Mene said the outcome would bring solace to the families and assist toward rebuilding confidence in the justice system.
“The investigative work and forensic evidence were exceptional as both managed to place the three men at the crime scene,” Mene added.
