A South African serial killer and rapist, Johan Jacobus Williams, has been sentenced to a total of eight life imprisonments after he was found guilty of luring young women whom he raped and killed.

The verdict which was handed by a the High Court of South Africa, Western Cape Division, on Thursday, also added an additional 60 years to the eight life terms.

According to a statement by the spokesperson of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), Eric Ntabazalila, Williams targeted desperate young women, promising them employment opportunities, only for them to be found raped, murdered and buried in shallow graves.

“Williams was earlier convicted in February on 19 counts,” Ntabazalila said.

“These include six counts of kidnapping, five counts of rape, two counts of attempted rape, three counts of murder, a count of housebreaking with intent to commit arson and arson, a count of assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm and failure to comply with a protection order.

“The 52-year-old’s reign of terror between 2012 and 2018 in Wellington saw him kidnapping and murdering Natalie Jonkers, Maria Isaacs, and Chantelle Matthyssen who he also raped.

“His modus operandi was that he promised them employment opportunities, only for them to be later found murdered and buried in shallow graves.

“He argued that it was a coincidence that all three women were last seen in his company, and he did not understand how he was convicted on the charges the State preferred against him.”

During the trial, Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions, advocate Maria Marshall described the accused as a serial murderer and rapist who showed no remorse and emotions.

During the trial, local media nicknamed the father of nine 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,” a taboid wrote.

“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.

“Her 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.

“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.

“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.

“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.”