Update
PLETTENBERG BAY NEWS - The man who raped and murdered Plettenberg Bay hospice nurse Penny Cumming was convicted and received, among others, two life sentences for the horrific crimes that rocked the local community last year.
Gcobani Lokwe, who pleaded not guilty to the charges, was convicted in the Knysna Circuit High Court on Thursday of raping and killing the 63-year-old Schoongezicht Country Estate resident in January last year.
He was subsequently also sentenced.
He was arrested on January 30 where he was allegedly hiding near a school in Kwanokuthula, following the grisly discovery the previous day.
Cumming’s naked and bruised body was found on the floor of her home by a friend. Her home was ransacked and her Volvo SUV was missing. The vehicle, which was partially destroyed, was found near Nekkies in Knysna later that day.
It was later established that Cumming had also been raped and that the cause of death was strangulation.
Lokwe has throughout the trial claimed his innocence despite DNA evidence collected during the police investigation into the rape and murder placed Lokwe at the scene of the crime.
The sentences handed down will run concurrently.
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