At the Mercy of Evil: The Horrific Murder of Hannah Cornelius
Alone in the Dark
Twenty-one-year-old Hannah Cornelius and Cheslin Marsh, twenty-two, were the best of friends. Students at the University of Stellenbosch in South Africa, the fun-loving pair would often spend their downtime together, going to dance clubs to unwind after a long week of studying.
On Saturday, May 27, 2017, they had stayed out painting the town until well after midnight. Although Cheslin had planned on skateboarding back to his flat, Hannah wouldn’t hear of it. Knowing how dangerous the streets could be at such a late hour, she insisted on driving him home in her Volkswagen Citi Golf, a gift from her grandmother.
When they pulled into the parking lot in front of Cheslin’s apartment, their movements were captured on the building’s security cameras. As they sat in the vehicle saying goodnight, four men could be seen walking in and out of frame. Moments later, the group reappears, only this time, they make their way over to Hannah’s car, where they proceed to surround it on all sides.
Even though it was chilly out, the driver’s side window was partially rolled down, giving one of the men just enough room to thrust a screwdriver in Hannah’s face. Realizing in an instant that they were in trouble, Cheslin had made a grab for the makeshift weapon. As he did so, another of the men climbed into the back of the car and threatened the couple with a knife.
All hell broke loose at that point as the four assailants robbed the couple at knifepoint. As Hannah begged them to take what they wanted and leave, one of the men took off with the goods while the others forced Cheslin into the trunk, leaving the three remaining culprits alone with Hannah.
As they drove off into the night, the men assured their terrified captive that they only wanted the car and would drop her and her friend off as soon as the opportunity arose.
About three and a half miles up the road, CCTV footage taken at a gas station showed a man walking inside to use the ATM machine. After fiddling around for several minutes with no luck, he is seen exiting the store. It was later revealed that the card he tried to use without success belonged to Cheslin Marsh, who had foiled their attempt to drain his bank account by giving his captors the wrong pin number.
At 4:43 a.m., over an hour after the onset of the carjacking, the trio of kidnappers drove to a remote area outside of town, detouring along the way to smoke drugs with a dealer friend of theirs before continuing on their way.
After finding an area that suited their needs, they had gotten out and removed Cheslin from the trunk. Once they had him on the ground, they grabbed pieces of broken bricks that they found scattered about and began viciously beating him about the head. When he finally stopped fighting and fell unconscious, they returned to the car where a visibly distraught Hannah was waiting.
Fully aware of what was about to happen, Hannah had tried to bargain with her captors. Since she knew that a sexual assault was inevitable, she told them that she wouldn’t resist if they promised to let her go when they were finished. Kindhearted and trusting to a fault, she had mistakenly assumed that these thieves, kidnappers and now rapists would be true to their word.
In the harrowing minutes that followed, the men had taken turns raping Hannah, who according to them, hadn’t made a sound throughout the entire ordeal. One of them would later comment that he was surprised by her stoicism, given the violent nature of the attack.
When they had their fill, Hannah’s assailants had placed her in the trunk under the pretense that they were going to look for a suitable spot to turn her loose. Instead, they had driven to a vineyard that they felt was isolated enough for what they had planned next.
When they opened the trunk and tried to pull Hannah out, she had grasped the interior and held on for dear life. Having come to the realization that they had no intention of letting her go, she wasn’t about to get out willingly.
During the struggle, one of the men had pulled out a knife and stabbed her in the throat, causing her to release her grip. Injured and helpless, Hannah was taken from the trunk and thrown onto a pile of gravel. Once they had her where they wanted her, the men she had tried so hard to appease had used the biggest rock they could find to crush her skull.
Completely unbothered by their actions, the trio had lit off in their victim’s car, with the intention of buying more drugs. As they cruised the area around Stellenbosch, they stopped to rob a woman they spied walking alone on a deserted street. Their crime spree continued a short while later when they kidnapped yet another woman and stole her debit card.
After finding a gas station, one of the men had gone inside and withdrawn R3000 ($159.71) from the ATM using their latest captive’s bank information. Security footage of these events revealed that the men had been as cool as cucumbers as they strolled inside to collect their ill-gotten gains. Once they had the woman’s money in hand, they had released her unharmed.
In the meantime, at around 6:00 a.m., a couple in the town of Kraaifontein, which lies twelve miles from Stellenbosch, were awakened by the sound of someone yelling for help from just outside their residence. When they ran to see what was going on, they found a battered and bloody young man, who identified himself as Cheslin Marsh, staggering in the middle of the road.
After hearing his story of having been carjacked, beaten and left to die, the couple had phoned police. Only moments after getting the details of the previous night’s events from Cheslin, authorities received word that farm workers had discovered a woman’s body lying face down in a field on the outskirts of town.
Despite being severely injured himself, Cheslin had been the one who had identified Hannah’s remains.
The Manhunt
In a stroke of luck, shortly after the first reports came over the wire, police spotted the blue VW Citi Golf weaving through traffic in Steffenborsch. A chase ensued, during which the driver had managed to evade capture for some time before inadvertently turning down a dead-end street. When he and his passenger could go no further, they jumped out and took off on foot with officers right on their heels. They hadn’t gotten far before being tackled and placed under arrest.
The suspects were subsequently identified as twenty-seven-year-old Geraldo Parsons and thirty-three-year-old Vernon Witbooi. Their accomplices, Nashville Julius, twenty-nine, and Eben van Niekerk, twenty-eight, were picked up later that morning at their respective residences. In all, eleven hours had passed from the time that the men had first encountered Hannah and Cheslin until they were led away in handcuffs.
Considering the brazen nature of their crimes, South African authorities weren’t surprised to learn that all four of the alleged perpetrators had criminal records that could have filled a book. What’s more, they were found to be members of the notorious “Numbers” prison gang, the most ruthless criminal organization in the country.
Once they were in custody, the men were officially charged with the kidnapping, rape and murder of Hannah Cornelius, as well as the kidnapping, robbery and attempted murder of Cheslin Marsh.
The Accused Get Their Day in Court
Due in part to the heinous nature of the offenses, the trial had gotten underway at an accelerated pace. For their part, the defendants had seemed to find the proceedings nothing more than a slight inconvenience, as evidenced by their constant joking and laughing in front of the packed courtroom. Their behavior made it clear to everyone present, including the judge who would be deciding their fate, that the lives of their victims had meant nothing to them.
Parsons was the only member of the gang to testify to the events of that night. According to him, they hadn’t set out to commit sexual assault or murder, but rather had only been looking for money to buy drugs. After seeing Hannah and Cheslin sitting in the car, oblivious to their presence, they had made the split-second decision to rob them and steal the vehicle to later sell for some quick cash.
When it dawned on them that the couple — and everything they had — were theirs for the taking, they had changed their plans. Parsons recalled that the decision to kill the pair had been made in the heat of the moment. Since she was going to die anyway, they had taken the opportunity to use Hannah as they saw fit before ending her life.
Although he had freely admitted to participating in the rape, Parsons — who had a girlfriend and children waiting for him at home — denied having any part in what was to come. The way he told it, the blame for Hannah’s murder lay solely with Vernon Witbooi, who he claimed had dropped the massive rock on her skull as the others looked on.
At the trial’s conclusion, the four defendants were found guilty on all charges. Parsons, Witbooi and Niekerk received life sentences with the possibility of parole after twenty-five years. Julius, who had left before the victims were taken to a second location, was ordered to serve fifteen years behind bars.
When the crowd jeered and taunted the defendants as they filed out of the courtroom following the verdict, Geraldo Parsons had shown his complete lack of impulse control by sticking his tongue out at spectators like a petulant child.
Aftermath
Cheslin Marsh, who lost the hearing in his left ear as a result of the attack, went on to graduate from college with honors. A proud husband and father, he has worked hard to rise above that fateful winter’s night when he and Hannah were set upon by monsters they thought existed only in nightmares.
Hannah’s close-knit family never recovered from her loss. A year after her daughter’s death, Hannah’s mother Anna got up early one morning and went for her usual swim in the ocean. On this occasion, however, she had walked into the water and just kept going. Her body was found later that afternoon. The cause of death was determined to be drowning. She was only fifty-six years old.
Willem Cornelius, who had stated publicly that his entire family had died along with his daughter Hannah, succumbed to cancer in 2022. Her brother Andrias, who suffers from autism, resides in a facility where his special needs are seen to around the clock.
It has been said that a single act of violence can claim countless lives with one fell swoop. This is especially true of the devastated families of murder victims; their deaths just take longer to come to pass. While it may sound melodramatic, it’s a sad reality, as this disturbing case illustrates.
Resources:
·vice.com
·dailymaverick.co.za
·timeslive.co.za
·thefreelibrary.com
·iono.fm
·FilmRise True Crime
·dailymail.co.uk
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