The axeman cometh: The crimes of Phindile Joseph Ntshongwana

10/25/21 • 25 min

IHHers, today’s case is an interesting one. Firstly, Phindile Joseph Ntshongwana was not an anonymous guy before these crimes put him in the papers. In fact, he used to be a professional rugby player –and you know how South Africans feel about their rugby. The other reason this case got so much attention was that Phindile is a literal axe murderer who went on a week-long rampage in March 2011, murdering four people and attempting to kill at least two others. But there’s a lot more to this case, in particular there’s the question of “mad or bad?”. Phindile would claim that his terrible actions were the result of profound mental illness, opening up a whole psychological and legal can o’ worms...

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SOURCES:

https://www.sowetanlive.co.za/news/south-africa/2021-06-07-former-blue-bulls-player-turned-axe-murderer-fails-appeal-bid/

https://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/kwazulu-natal/expert-flabbergasted-by-testimony-1720244

https://www.news24.com/citypress/southafrica/news/from-teddy-bear-to-terminator-20110402

http://www.saflii.org/za/other/ZAKZPHCRolls/2021/74.html

https://mg.co.za/article/2013-04-18-accused-blue-bulls-axe-murderer-had-seizure/

https://news.sky.com/story/former-rugby-player-in-court-over-axe-murders-10488883

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FK4aOVPzvFI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjqRTyHMjA0

https://www.news24.com/drum/News/phindile-ntshongwana-guilty-of-murder-20170728

https://www.news24.com/News24/Ex-Blue-Bulls-players-gets-5x-life-for-axe-murders-20141219