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Mariëtte Sonjaleen Bosch (1950 – 31 March 2001, later named Mariëtte Wolmarans) was a South African woman who was
executed Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...
in Botswana on 31 March 2001.Penketh, Anne.
America and the world's executioners join efforts to block UN moves to end death penalty
" ''
The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
''. Thursday 15 November 2007. Retrieved on 26 March 2013. Bosch was convicted for the murder of Maria Magdalene "Ria" Wolmarans, both members of the
white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...
expatriate An expatriate (often shortened to expat) is a person who resides outside their native country. In common usage, the term often refers to educated professionals, skilled workers, or artists taking positions outside their home country, either ...
community in
Gaborone Gaborone ( , , ) is the capital and largest city of Botswana with a population of 246,325 based on the 2022 census, about 10% of the total population of Botswana. Its agglomeration is home to 421,907 inhabitants at the 2011 census. Gaboron ...
, in June 1996.Bird, Maryann.
Until Death Us Do Part
" ''
TIME Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
''. Monday February 12, 2001. Retrieved on 26 March 2013. "Barring a presidential decree of clemency, Bosch—who still maintains she is innocent—would be the first white woman to be executed in Botswana's history."Bosch loses appeal
" '' News 24''. 30 January 2001. Retrieved on 26 March 2013. She was the first white woman to be executed in Botswana, and was the fourth woman to be hanged since the country's independence.Love-triangle murderer hanged
" ''
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
''. Monday 2 April 2001. Retrieved on 26 March 2013. Due to these two factors, the murder case received significant attention outside the country and was referred to as "Botswana's '' White Mischief''".


Background

Mariette Bosch was the daughter of an affluent
liquor store A liquor store is a retail shop that predominantly sells prepackaged liquors – typically in bottles – usually intended to be consumed off the store's premises. Depending on region and local idiom, they may also be called an off-licence (i ...
owner in South Africa, and with her husband Justin had moved to
Gaborone Gaborone ( , , ) is the capital and largest city of Botswana with a population of 246,325 based on the 2022 census, about 10% of the total population of Botswana. Its agglomeration is home to 421,907 inhabitants at the 2011 census. Gaboron ...
, the capital of neighbouring Botswana, due to the latter country's lower crime rate and a bustling economy. The Boschs settled in
Phakalane Phakalane is a suburb in Botswana situated a few kilometers from the capital city Gaborone. It is 12.5 km north of the city centre via the A1 road. It is a commercial and residential area, which has experienced significant growth and develop ...
, a neighbourhood in Gaborone that was popular with affluent
White South African White South Africans generally refers to South Africans of European descent. In linguistic, cultural, and historical terms, they are generally divided into the Afrikaans-speaking descendants of the Dutch East India Company's original settlers, ...
expatriate An expatriate (often shortened to expat) is a person who resides outside their native country. In common usage, the term often refers to educated professionals, skilled workers, or artists taking positions outside their home country, either ...
s and often referred to as "Little
Sandton Sandton is an upscale commercial and residential district north of the city of Johannesburg, South Africa. It forms part of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality. The name of the city came from the combination of two of its suburbs, ...
". Mariette became a member of the Gaborone
Dutch Reformed Church The Dutch Reformed Church (, abbreviated NHK) was the largest Christian denomination in the Netherlands from the onset of the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century until 1930. It was the original denomination of the Dutch Royal Family and ...
and entered into
high society High society, sometimes simply society, is the behavior and lifestyle of people with the highest levels of wealth and social status. It includes their related affiliations, social events and practices. Upscale social clubs were open to men based ...
, becoming friends with Ria Wolmarans and her husband, Marthinus "Tienie" Wolmarans.McGreal, Chris.
Love, loot, lust and loathing
" ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
''. Monday 22 January 2001. Retrieved on 26 March 2013. She had three children.Morrall, p
61
 In 1995, Justin Bosch died in an automobile accident. Shortly afterwards, Mariette Bosch and Tienie Wolmarans began having an affair. The Wolmarans had separated in 1993 but had moved back in together the following year, despite Tienie promising Bosch that he would
divorce Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganizing of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the ...
his wife.


Murder

In June 1996, Bosch travelled to
Pietersburg Polokwane (, meaning "Sanctuary" in Northern SothoPolokwane - The Heart of the Limpopo Province ...
, South Africa, and received her father's pistol from one of her friends. The following day she smuggled the gun into Botswana. Bosch entered the Wolmarans' residence, located two blocks away from her own, by climbing a security wall and shooting Ria Wolmarans twice, hitting her in the
stomach The stomach is a muscular, hollow organ in the gastrointestinal tract of humans and many other animals, including several invertebrates. The stomach has a dilated structure and functions as a vital organ in the digestive system. The stomach i ...
and
ribs The rib cage, as an enclosure that comprises the ribs, vertebral column and sternum in the thorax of most vertebrates, protects vital organs such as the heart, lungs and great vessels. The sternum, together known as the thoracic cage, is a semi- ...
. There were no witnesses to the crime. Originally, police believed that the murder occurred in the process of a
burglary Burglary, also called breaking and entering and sometimes housebreaking, is the act of entering a building or other areas without permission, with the intention of committing a criminal offence. Usually that offence is theft, robbery or murder ...
and named no suspects. Bosch told her sister-in-law, Judith Bosch, that she loved Tienie Wolmarans and wished to marry him. Judith, with whom Bosch had an acrimonious relationship, persuaded Bosch to give the murder weapon to her and her husband, saying that she would give it back to the gun's original owner, who was a mutual friend; Mariette gave the gun to Judith's husband. Three months after the killing, Bosch ordered a
wedding dress A wedding dress or bridal gown is the dress worn by the bride during a wedding ceremony. The color, style and ceremonial importance of the gown can depend on the religion and culture of the wedding participants. In Western cultures and Anglo-Sa ...
from a designer in
Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends ...
. Upon discovering the facts about the gun and the dress, Judith took the gun to the police. The police arrested Wolmarans on suspicion that he was involved in the murder, but he was released after one evening and was never charged.


Legal process

Botswana prosecutors said that the murder encompassed "the four Ls of murder—love, loot, lust and loathing." After Mariette Bosch's arrest, Tienie Wolmarans married her in 1997 and supported her. Bosch was originally held in the
Botswana Prison Service The Botswana Prison Service (BPS) is the corrections agency of Botswana. It holds pre-trial and convicted prisoners.The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' said, "The trial was at times bizarre". A psychologist serving the
defense Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense industr ...
, Dr. Louise Olivier, had also worked as a magazine's "sex doctor." A psychiatrist, who served as the defense
expert witness An expert witness, particularly in common law countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia, and the United States, is a person whose opinion by virtue of education, training, certification, skills or experience, is accepted by the judge as ...
, argued that Bosch did not have the profile of a killer and was not capable of lying. McGreal said that Bosch's daughter cried in court and that her family "were horrified at the circus atmosphere". On 13 December 1999, Justice Isaac Aboagye of the Botswana High Court found Bosch guilty of Wolmarans' murder, and in February 2000 he sentenced her to death. In January 2001, Bosch appealed. The British barrister Desmond da Silva represented her. A panel of judges from the
Commonwealth of Nations The Commonwealth of Nations, simply referred to as the Commonwealth, is a political association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire. The chief institutions of the organisation are the Co ...
served as a court of appeal, and da Silva attempted to convince them that the Botswana government had not revealed, during the trial, that it had granted
immunity Immunity may refer to: Medicine * Immunity (medical), resistance of an organism to infection or disease * ''Immunity'' (journal), a scientific journal published by Cell Press Biology * Immune system Engineering * Radiofrequence immunity desc ...
to a suspect in exchange for testifying against Bosch. On 30 January 2001, the Botswana Appeal Court denied the appeal, ruling that Bosch's explanation of the case was not convincing.Barrow, Greg.
South African woman to hang
" ''
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...
''. Tuesday 30 January 2001. Retrieved on 27 March 2013. At that stage, the only possibility of Bosch being saved from execution would have been a pardon from Botswana President
Festus Mogae Festus Gontebanye Mogae (born 21 August 1939) is a Botswana politician and economist who served as the third President of Botswana from 1998 to 2008. He succeeded Quett Masire as President in 1998 and was re-elected in October 2004; after ten y ...
. From 1966 until before Bosch's execution, 33 people had been executed in Botswana. On the weekend before Bosch's execution, Mogae said that he was not considering granting
clemency A pardon is a government decision to allow a person to be relieved of some or all of the legal consequences resulting from a criminal conviction. A pardon may be granted before or after conviction for the crime, depending on the laws of the ju ...
.Warby, Vivian.
Murderess Mariette Bosch executed in Botswana
" ''
IOL News ''Independent Online'', popularly known as ''IOL'', is a news website based in South Africa. IOL serves the online versions of a number of South African newspapers, including ''The Star'', ''Pretoria News'', '' The Daily Voice'', ''Cape Times'' ...
''. 2 April 2001. Retrieved on 26 March 2013. While awaiting her death sentence, Bosch was imprisoned in the Gaborone Central Prison. The
government of South Africa The Republic of South Africa is a parliamentary republic with three-tier system of government and an independent judiciary, operating in a parliamentary system. Legislative authority is held by the Parliament of South Africa. Executive authority ...
declined to intervene in her case. Up to the end, she insisted that she did not kill Ria Wolmarans, did not show remorse, and accused a third party of being the real culprit.Morrall, p
62


Execution

In Botswana, the mandatory punishment for murder is death, unless extenuating circumstances warranting leniency are found. After Bosch had spent one year on
death row Death row, also known as condemned row, is a place in a prison that houses inmates awaiting Capital punishment, execution after being convicted of a capital crime and sentenced to death. The term is also used figuratively to describe the state of ...
, she was hanged at 5:30amMcGreal, Chris.
Outrage at secret Botswana hanging
" ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
''. Monday 2 April 2001. Retrieved on 10 April 2013. on 31 March 2001. The execution took place at the Central Maximum Prison in Gaborone. Bosch's family and lawyers were not given advance notice of her execution. The day after the hanging occurred, her family were driving to visit her when they learned about the hanging over the radio.Bosch film row
" ''
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
''. Wednesday 2 May 2001. Retrieved on 27 March 2013. Tienie Wolmarans said he had attempted a scheduled visit the previous day, on a Friday, to give Bosch some items, but was told that there was an inspection and so they were unable to conduct the visit. Bosch's death warrant was given that day. Wolmarans said that the prison authorities had lied to him. The Botswana criminal justice system does not have a designated
last meal A condemned prisoner's last meal is a customary ritual preceding execution. In many countries, the prisoner may, within reason, select what the last meal will be. Contemporary restrictions in the United States In the United States, most states gi ...
for the executed. No sedatives are given to a prisoner before execution. Joe Orebotse, a man who spoke on behalf of the commissioner of the Botswana prison system, said that a religious minister, a medical officer, a hangman, and prison officials were present, but that no relatives were permitted access. In Botswana, relatives are not allowed at executions. Wolmarans said that he was not aware of the location of Bosch's grave on prison grounds. Her lawyers said that she had been executed with an unusual quickness and criticized the execution.


Aftermath

On 2 April 2001
South African President The president of South Africa is the head of state and head of government of the Republic of South Africa. The president heads the executive branch of the Government of South Africa and is the commander-in-chief of the South African Natio ...
Thabo Mbeki Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki KStJ (; born 18 June 1942) is a South African politician who was the second president of South Africa from 14 June 1999 to 24 September 2008, when he resigned at the request of his party, the African National Congress (ANC ...
had been planning to launch a petition to get Bosch's death sentence overturned, not realizing that she had already been executed. Interights, a
non-governmental organisation A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from g ...
based in the United Kingdom, and some undisclosed parties had argued that the execution was unfair. On Monday 8 December 2003 Mogae's office said that the execution was not in contradiction of the African Commission on Human Rights and that the ACHR had ruled that Bosch's rights had not been violated by her being executed during the 34th Ordinary Session meeting that was held in
The Gambia The Gambia,, ff, Gammbi, ar, غامبيا officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. It is the smallest country within mainland AfricaHoare, Ben. (2002) ''The Kingfisher A-Z Encyclopedia'', Kingfisher Publicatio ...
. Human rights groups from South Africa and other countries criticized the execution;
Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...
argued that it had been conducted hastily and in secrecy to avoid further controversy, that the family was not aware of the execution until it had already happened, and that the execution was rushed after the appeal failed and as Bosch was asking for clemency from Mogae. The Botswana human rights organisation Ditshwanelo also criticized the execution.PRESS STATEMENT – BOTSWANA EXECUTION UPDATE APRIL 2001 EXECUTION OF MARIETTE SONJALEEN BOSCH
"

Ditshwanelo. 2 April 2001. Retrieved on 26 March 2013. The case was compared with the book and film '' White Mischief'', and the atmosphere of wealthy white people in the colonial-era Kenya that the series depicted.'White Mischief' trial begins
" ''
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
''. Thursday 18 January 2001. Retrieved on 27 March 2013. The book and film were based on a murder in Kenya in the
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
era involving a man, Sir Henry Delves Broughton, killing another man who became romantically involved with his wife. Therefore, people referred to it as "Botswana's white mischief". A documentary about the Bosch murder case had been made. In 2001 the government of Botswana refused to broadcast it, saying that the documentary could result in litigation. After the decision, Chris Bishop, the head of the television news network of Botswana, resigned.


See also

* Capital punishment in Botswana


References


Additional sources

* Morrall, Peter. ''Murder and Society''.
John Wiley & Sons John Wiley & Sons, Inc., commonly known as Wiley (), is an American multinational publishing company founded in 1807 that focuses on academic publishing and instructional materials. The company produces books, journals, and encyclopedias, in p ...
, 2 October 2006. , 9780470030226. *
In the Court of Appeal of Botswana Held at Lobatse Court of Appeal Criminal Appeal No. 37 of 1999 High Court Criminal Trial No. 34 of 1997 In the matter between MARRIETTE SONJALEEN BOSCH APPELLANT and The State Respondent

Archive
– Appeals Court Ruling, hosted by the South African Legal Information Institute (SAFLI)


External links

* .
Archive
'' Daily News''. 31 January 2001. {{DEFAULTSORT:Bosch, Mariette South African people convicted of murder South African female murderers 2001 in Botswana 1996 in Botswana 1950 births 2001 deaths Executed South African people People convicted of murder by Botswana People executed by Botswana by hanging South African expatriates in Botswana Executed South African women White South African people South African people executed abroad Botswana Christians Members of the Dutch Reformed Church Members of the Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa 20th-century Calvinist and Reformed Christians 21st-century Calvinist and Reformed Christians South African people of Dutch descent South African people of Afrikaner descent South African emigrants to Botswana 1990s murders in Botswana 1996 crimes in Botswana 1996 murders in Africa Incidents of violence against women