Northern Cape woman who set home ablaze, killing two, has life sentence reduced

THE NORTHERN Cape High Court has reduced the life sentence of Elisa Tsilo, who was convicted of arson and murder for setting her home ablaze with her partner and child inside.

According to the State, Tsilo deliberately poured petrol inside the house during a domestic dispute and ignited the flames. However, she has consistently maintained her innocence, arguing that the fire was accidental and resulted from a struggle with her boyfriend, who had allegedly been demanding money for drugs.

The fire also claimed the life of another person.

Tsilo was sentenced in October 2017 after being found guilty on four counts - arson, two counts of murder, and assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. 

Tsilo filed an appeal against her sentence.

Northern Cape High Court Judge President Pule Tlaletsi questioned whether the murder in count two was premeditated, which had been a key factor in the trial court's original ruling.

Court documents detailed: “She refused to finance his [her boyfriend’s] lust for drugs. He became aggressive and fought her in the sitting room. During their struggle, they knocked down a petrol container. The petrol spilled over the floor. The deceased left her and rushed to the kitchen and said he was going to check whether the stove was on. In his absence, the fire started from the refrigerator area. She ran to the bedroom where their child was. She grabbed him and hurriedly exited the house.

“She expected the deceased to exit the house through the kitchen door. To her surprise, she saw the deceased exiting the house through the sitting room door, which was on fire. Neighbours came to assist in putting the fire out. The refrigerator that was in the sitting room is operated by gas. She suggested that the petrol that spilled on the floor was ignited by the flame of that gas refrigerator.”

Her boyfriend was taken to the hospital but succumbed to his injuries. 

In his judgment, Tlaletsi said: “The determination of the controversy about where (Tsilo) poured the petrol is in my view not singularly determinative of premeditation. As I have alluded to above, whether petrol was poured on the deceased in the bedroom or was poured in the sitting room does not take the respondent’s case anywhere for purposes of establishing premeditation. It is, however, evident that the factual finding by the trial court that (she) poured petrol on the deceased whilst lying on the bed is a factor that played a pivotal role. 

“In this case, there is no evidence, and it was never the State’s case that Tsilo mentioned that she was going to kill the deceased, or that she locked the deceased in the room and poured petrol in all the other rooms to ensure that the deceased could not escape death.

“It was also not the State’s case that Tsilo had earlier acquired the petrol as part of her intention and plan to kill the deceased. The fetching of petrol from the outside room, the pouring thereof, be it either on the deceased lying in bed in the bedroom or around the sitting room and igniting it, is part of the direct intent to kill and not premeditation.” 

Tsilo will now continue serving her sentence, which was backdated to 2017, meaning she has already spent approximately eight years in prison. She will now serve the remainder of her reduced sentence.

Tlaletsi did, however, strongly condemn the act.

“That does not justify the selfish and cruel conduct by Tsilo. The setting alight of the house is deplorable conduct. The death of the deceased was brutal. This incident must have caused an outrage to the small community of Gong-Gong.”