Three sentenced to life for murders of British botanists in South Africa

Three people were sentenced to double life imprisonment on Thursday for the 2018 kidnapping and murders of British botanists Rodney Saunders, 74, and Rachel Saunders, 63. The KwaZulu-Natal High Court in Durban also imposed 15 years for robbery and four years for theft on Safydeen Aslam Del Vecchio, Fatima Bibi Patel and Mussa Ahmad Jackson, with Del Vecchio receiving an additional five years for malicious injury to property.

Rodney and Rachel Saunders disappeared on 8 February 2018 in Ngoye Forest in northern KwaZulu-Natal while collecting indigenous plants and seeds after finishing filming for a BBC documentary in the Drakensberg. They had been carrying research equipment and camping gear when they were abducted. Their bodies were found about a week later on the banks of the Tugela River. Prosecutors said they had been beaten, tortured and stabbed before being thrown into the crocodile-infested water.

Investigators said the couple’s bank cards were then used for numerous purchases and cash withdrawals totaling more than R700,000. Prosecutors said some of the stolen money was intended to fund an ISIS-inspired terror training camp, and the accused faced charges under South Africa’s anti-terrorism law for possessing ISIS-linked material and hoisting an ISIS flag. Judge Esther Steyn said the murders were among the most serious cases she had seen, pointing to the brutality of the crimes and the trio’s lack of remorse.

Rodney and Rachel Saunders had moved from the United Kingdom to Cape Town in the 1970s and built Silverhill Seeds into a world-renowned indigenous seeds business. The case took eight years to reach sentence because of repeated delays, multiple interlocutory applications and a trial in 2022 that collapsed after the presiding judge recused herself. A new trial began in 2023.