Global InformationMarlene Lehnberg information
Marlene Lehnberg | |
|---|---|
| Born | 13 October 1955 South Africa |
| Died | 7 October 2015 (aged 59) South Africa |
| Criminal status | Deceased |
| Conviction(s) | Murder |
| Criminal penalty | Death; commuted to 20 years imprisonment |
| Partner(s) | Christiaan van der Linde |
| Details | |
| Victims | Susanna Magdalena van der Linde |
| Date | July 1974 |
| Country | South Africa |
Marlene Lehnberg (15 October 1955 – 7 October 2015) was a South African woman who was more commonly known as The Scissor Murderess. She was 18 years old in 1974 when she hired Marthinus Choegoe to stab Susanna Magdalena van der Linde, the wife of Lehnberg's 47-year-old lover Christiaan van der Linde, to death with a pair of scissors. At age 19, she was then the youngest woman to be convicted of murder in South Africa.[1] Both Lehnberg and Marthinus Choegoe were condemned to death. However, both sentences were reduced to prison terms. Lehnberg served 11 years of a 20-year sentence in Pollsmoor Prison outside Cape Town. Choegoe's sentence was reduced to 15 years.
The case set a precedent in South Africa in terms of juveniles and capital punishment; while the Criminal Procedure Act, 1977 permitted the sentencing to death of a person under 18 years, S v. Lehnberg made clear that an abundant presumption, given the presupposition of immaturity, would be in favour of a prison sentence for minors convicted of capital crimes.
- ^ Oellermann, Ingrid (8 October 2004). "Fourteen-year-old girl found guilty of murder". IOL. Retrieved 2 February 2017.