Self-confessed killer Kyle Ruiters has been sentenced to 45 years in the mang for the horrific murder of Bellville mom, Lynette Volschenk, who he attacked in her home and dismembered.
The 28-year-old man, dubbed the “Bellville Butcher”, appeared calm in the dock at the Western Cape High Court yesterday where Judge Robert Henney described him as “evil incarnate” after he stalked and planned to kill unsuspecting women to pay off his drug debts.
Ruiters, who pleaded guilty to stabbing Lynette to death in her Bellville flat in 2019 and later cutting up her body into nine pieces, was declared a psychopath by a panel of State psychiatrists who assessed him prior to sentencing.
In his plea statement, Ruiters admitted that he was a drug user and owed his drug dealer R30 000.
He said he formulated a plan to rob and murder someone to settle the debt.
He had surveiled several possible victims, taking notes, and making videos of their movements to and from their residences, their places of work, and any places they frequented. He also tracked their social media activities.
On the day of the murder, Ruiters followed Lynette into her flat which was above his own, grabbed a knife from the counter and stabbed her to death. He then dismembered her to dispose of her body.
Addressing the court on Thursday, Henney said it was disturbing to note that Ruiters admitted to stalking and secretly filming unsuspecting women.
Henney said after the murder, Ruiters placed Lynette’s head in a backpack and disposed of it. He then placed the rest of her body parts in cooler boxes from her flat and of his own.
The judge said despite having no history of violence, Ruiters showed that he had no regard for the sanctity of human life.
Henney said: “It is a chilling and evil account of a person that has no regard for the sanctity of the life of an individual. One can describe it as an evil incarnate.”
Henney explained that while the State had called on the court to declare Ruiters a dangerous criminal, which means he would only be released on parole if the court so rules, the request included a clash of legislations which would result in a less harsh punishment.
The judge explained that with the abolishment of the death penalty, a sentence of life in prison was the harshest sentence a court could hand down and he believed that there were no compelling circumstances to deviate from this
He sentenced Ruiters to life in prison for murder, 15 years for the violation of a corpse and five years for attempting to defeat the ends of justice. The sentences will run concurrently.
Henney did not declare Ruiters a dangerous criminal but ordered that details of the docket such as the plea statement, the crime scene photographs and the victim impact report be sent to the Department of Correctional Services and be kept on file, for the future use of the parole board.