A married man convicted of murdering his secret male lover has told the Durban High Court that shame kept him silent for nearly 11 years — and in a twist that left the courtroom heavy with emotion, his wife only learned this week that he was the one who pulled the trigger.
Petrus Hendrik van Rooyen was convicted in April of the premeditated murder of Jan Johannes Craemer. The court heard that Van Rooyen and Craemer had been involved in a secret affair for three years, while both men were married to women.
Craemer was shot in the face and neck in room 1201 at the Durban Spa Hotel on November 30, 2015 — a setting that has now become central to a case that has shifted sharply as sentencing proceedings get under way.
For the duration of the trial, Van Rooyen’s stance was firm: he insisted he had blacked out and could not remember shooting Craemer. That claim shaped much of what the court heard from him, with Van Rooyen maintaining he had no clear recollection of the moment the fatal shots were fired.
But when sentencing proceedings began on Monday, Van Rooyen changed course in court, admitting for the first time that he had pulled the trigger. He told the court that Craemer had grabbed and pushed him.
Van Rooyen said he had remained silent about the shooting because he was ashamed and embarrassed, telling the court: “I was ashamed and embarrassed. I did not discuss this with anyone,” he told the court.
That admission landed with particular force because Van Rooyen’s wife has been a constant presence in the courtroom, attending proceedings and supporting him throughout the trial. Despite sitting through the evidence and the arguments, she only learned the truth when Van Rooyen took the witness stand during the sentencing proceedings.
The court also heard from Acting Judge Priscilla Maharaj, who pressed Van Rooyen on why he still seemed unable to plainly acknowledge what he had now admitted.
Maharaj challenged him directly, asking why he could not bring himself to say: “I shot the deceased.”
Van Rooyen’s response spoke to the struggle he claims he has carried for years. “It was only me and the deceased in the room. It’s very difficult to accept that it was me,”
Van Rooyen replied.
The judge did not let the issue rest there. Maharaj reminded him that the post-mortem examination showed Craemer had suffered two gunshot wounds — a critical detail in a case that has already resulted in a conviction for premeditated murder.
Maharaj also reminded Van Rooyen of what he had previously told the court about the hours leading up to the shooting. The judge pointed out that Van Rooyen had earlier described their meeting as relaxed, and that there had been no mention of money during their time at the restaurant before they went upstairs to the hotel room.
That reminder goes to the heart of one of the explanations Van Rooyen had previously offered. During the trial, he had told the court that Craemer had blackmailed him for R20 000 and threatened to have his son hurt.
Now, with sentencing proceedings unfolding, the court is weighing not only the conviction but also the shifting version of events and the late admission that Van Rooyen was the one who fired the shots that killed Craemer.
The case has also exposed the personal fallout beyond the legal arguments. Van Rooyen’s wife — who has stood by him in court — discovered only this week, in the most public of settings, that he was the shooter. The moment has added another layer of tension to proceedings already marked by difficult, intimate details: a hidden relationship, two married lives, and a killing in a hotel room where only two people were present.
Sentencing proceedings are expected to resume in December.
