Three thugs in South Africa pleaded guilty to a horrific attack against a family that left a husband, wife and their young son dead — shocking murders reportedly carried out for revenge.
The slaying of the Viana family last October was noted for the extent at which the family suffered before they were killed.
One of the attackers worked for the family as a gardener, while another was the son of their housekeeper.
Tony Viana, 53, arrived to his Walkerville home and was blindsided by the men, who had broken in to rob the family, according to translated reports of South Africa’s Beeld newspaper.
Viana was hit with a golf club and a machete-like weapon known as a panga before they made him open up the family’s safe, his attackers said in court Tuesday.
When his wife, Geraldine, 42, and their son, 12-year-old Amaro, came home, the family was separated into different rooms.
According to reports, Geraldine was raped by two of the men and then fatally shot with her husband’s gun. Viana, who had been tied up in a living room, was then executed with a shot in the head.
Their son was also drowned in a bath of boiling water.
“We went to the bathroom and turned on the tap,” the attackers said in a statement in court, according to Praag.org. “We went to fetch (Amaro) and gagged him because he was crying. We forced him into the bath face down, knowing that he would drown.”
They murdered him, they admitted, because they were worried he could identify them.
In addition, the family dog was killed — its stomach sliced open.
“There was blood on the floor in almost all the rooms,” Brig. Anton du Bruyn told South Africa’s News24.com last year.
The men had also stolen the family car, which police later found abandoned, leading them to the grisly discovery at the Viana home.
Patrick Petrus Radebe, their 24-year-old gardener, and Sipho Mbele, the 21-year-old son of the housekeeper, pleaded guilty to three charges of murder and one charge of rape.
Their accomplice, David Motaung, 20, pleaded guilty to robbery.
They will be sentenced Sept. 6.
A defense attorney told the court the men had plotted the home invasion as retaliation against alleged poor treatment by Geraldine Viana.
When Tuesday’s hearing concluded, the men were led back to their cells and could be heard laughing with one another, according to South Africa’s Independent Online.
The slaying of the Viana family last October was noted for the extent at which the family suffered before they were killed.
One of the attackers worked for the family as a gardener, while another was the son of their housekeeper.
Tony Viana, 53, arrived to his Walkerville home and was blindsided by the men, who had broken in to rob the family, according to translated reports of South Africa’s Beeld newspaper.
Viana was hit with a golf club and a machete-like weapon known as a panga before they made him open up the family’s safe, his attackers said in court Tuesday.
When his wife, Geraldine, 42, and their son, 12-year-old Amaro, came home, the family was separated into different rooms.
According to reports, Geraldine was raped by two of the men and then fatally shot with her husband’s gun. Viana, who had been tied up in a living room, was then executed with a shot in the head.
Their son was also drowned in a bath of boiling water.
“We went to the bathroom and turned on the tap,” the attackers said in a statement in court, according to Praag.org. “We went to fetch (Amaro) and gagged him because he was crying. We forced him into the bath face down, knowing that he would drown.”
They murdered him, they admitted, because they were worried he could identify them.
In addition, the family dog was killed — its stomach sliced open.
“There was blood on the floor in almost all the rooms,” Brig. Anton du Bruyn told South Africa’s News24.com last year.
The men had also stolen the family car, which police later found abandoned, leading them to the grisly discovery at the Viana home.
Patrick Petrus Radebe, their 24-year-old gardener, and Sipho Mbele, the 21-year-old son of the housekeeper, pleaded guilty to three charges of murder and one charge of rape.
Their accomplice, David Motaung, 20, pleaded guilty to robbery.
They will be sentenced Sept. 6.
A defense attorney told the court the men had plotted the home invasion as retaliation against alleged poor treatment by Geraldine Viana.
When Tuesday’s hearing concluded, the men were led back to their cells and could be heard laughing with one another, according to South Africa’s Independent Online.
