Tears of joy flowed at the Western Cape High Court on Thursday as the notorious Boland Serial Killer was slapped with a collective 260 years behind bars for the rapes and murders of three moms.
After years of delays and courtroom shenanigans, Johan Williams, 52, was finally sentenced on an array of charges which include murder, rape, kidnapping and assault.
The father of nine was dubbed the Boland Serial Killer after it was found that he had lured women to a farm in Wellington under false pretences and later murdered them.
His evil deeds came to light in July 2018 when he was busted for the murder of missing Kuils River mom, Chantell Mathyssen.
The 21-year-old mother’s body was found on Aubon Rue Farm just weeks after she was lured to Wellington by Williams who had promised her a job.
During the trial his former girlfriend also testified against him and told the court about the text messages between him and another victim, Maria Isaacs,33.
Maria was taken by her cousin Magdalena to meet with Williams on 16 June 2018 at Wellington Police Station.
Maria left with Williams and her family never heard from her again and she was later reported missing.
In July 2018, Maria’s body was also discovered on Aubon Rue Farm while her personal belongings were found in Williams’ possession. She had been strangled to death.
During the same time that Maria disappeared, Chantell also went missing after going to meet Williams, who had promised her a job in Wellington.
The 21-year-old mother’s body was found on Aubon Rue Farm on the same day that Maria’s body was found and Williams later led cops to the site where he had buried mom Natalie Jonkers, 35, several years earlier.
Williams was found guilty earlier this year but fired his legal representative as sentencing proceedings were about to start.
On Thursday Judge Rosheni Allie did not mince her words as she slammed Williams for tormenting the grieving families throughout the trial.
She highlighted the trauma of Carol Petersen, during the search of her daughter Chantell, saying Williams sent messages from his victim’s phone to give the family false hope.
Allie said: “In those messages, he cruelly led Mrs Petersen to believe that Chantell was alive and well at her place of employment when all the while he knew he violently raped her, murdered her, and buried her body on a farm covered by bush and branches.”
The Judge said Williams was nothing short of a ‘serial rapist, murderer and abuser of women’.
She added: “The accused treated women as objects that he could dominate and do with as he pleased and he wasn’t shy to boast about his sexual prowess with the women he eventually murdered.”
Williams received eight life sentences for each rape and murder, six years for each kidnapping and four years for house breaking and arson.
Collectively he received a 260 year sentence but it is understood that the sentences will run concurrently and he will serve a total of 25 years in prison.
Outside court the families agreed that they were happy with the outcome.
monique.duval@inl.co.za