Graham Eadie of Fish Hoek was convicted in the Cape High Court on Monday of murder after beating a fellow motorist to death with a hockey stick on Ou Kaapseweg in June last year.
Justice Bennie Griesel rejected Graeme Eadie's defence that he was beside himself with rage over the driving of his victim, Kevin Duncan, and out of control.
"He was very angry. He however did not lose control, he only lost his temper," said the judge.
Duncan's widow, Carin Duncan, burst into tears when the judgment was pronounced. Eadie stood silent in the dock, his jaw clenched. He wiped his face with his handkerchief several times during the judgment.
Eadie had pleaded not guilty, saying that he suffered from temporary non-pathological criminal incapacity due to financial, marital and work stress. He was also drunk at the time of the offence and had been provoked by what he perceived to be Duncan's dangerous style of driving.
"Much was made of these stresses," Judge Griesel said, "but there are thousands of people with the same or worse problems who don't go around clubbing fellow motorists to death."
Eadie and his wife, Wendy, had attended a function of the Fish Hoek hockey club in Woodstock on June 11 last year and were returning home in the early hours of June 12 with their two sleeping children in the car.
They spotted Duncan's headlights in the rearview mirror. According to both Eadie and his wife, Duncan flashed his lights at them, tailgated them, overtook them on a solid white line, and then cut in front of them in a dangerous way.
Eadie told the court that he feared for his family's safety. When both cars had to stop at a red traffic light at the intersection with the Kommetjie Road, an enraged Eadie got out, took his hockey stick and assaulted Duncan. He died in a pool of blood on the roadway beside of his vehicle.
Doctor Yolande van der Heyde concluded that Duncan had died of severe head injuries, including a fractured skull, broken upper jaw, fractured cheekbones, and a broken nose. He also had a fractured finger.
Judge Griesel said he had several problems with Eadie's contention that he was out of control and could not be held responsible for what happened. He said that Eadie's actions were all goal-directed.
"He took the hockey stick from the back seat. He checked to see of Mr Duncan was alone in his car. He decided to smash Mr Duncan's headlights and later decided to smash the windscreen.
"He lunged at the car door. He was able to give a blow-by-blow version of the attack. He gave a false account of what happened to bystanders who later arrived on the scene. He took the broken hockey stick from under Duncan's body and disposed off it. He hid his blood spattered jeans in the guest room. He lied to the police. He tried to lie his way out of the net that was closing in around him," Judge Griesel said.
He rejected Eadie's contention that he never assaulted Duncan with the hockey stick, saying he believed the evidence of Gareth Hill, an eyewitness, who saw Eadie hitting Duncan on the head with the hockey stick.
Judge Griesel said it was clear to him that Eadie resorted to lies and deceit to evade trouble and that neither he nor the psychiatrists who evaluated him could rely on what he told them about the incident.
He found that Eadie foresaw the possibility that Duncan could die of the injuries he had inflicted on him and accepted the risk. He said he came to this conclusion when he looked at the savage and sustained nature of the attack, the fact the almost the entire attack was aimed at Duncan's head, and Eadie's deliberate conduct after the murder when he tried to conceal evidence.
Evidence in mitigation and aggravation will be heard on Tuesday. Eadie's bail was extended.