Prince Albert man sentenced after DNA links him to rape and murder committed 12 years ago

For 12 years, the man who raped and murdered a Prince Albert woman in her fifties lived undetected among her family and neighbours.

The Oudtshoorn Regional Court on Tuesday sentenced Romano Keyser to 10 years' direct imprisonment for rape and 10 years' direct imprisonment for the culpable homicide of 55-year-old Anna Abrahams.

Abrahams’ body was found behind a premises that sold alcohol, on the evening of February 11, 2012. At the time, post-mortem results found that she had been raped and the cause of death was alcohol intoxication. While police made no arrests at the time, DNA evidence was taken from her body. 

Twelve years later, police arrested Keyser for an unrelated theft case and took his DNA. The DNA evidence linked him to her rape and murder. 

Police arrested him on June 19, 2024.

“He made a warning statement as well as a confession, where he said that he was 16 years old at the time and claimed that two older co-accused forced him to have sex with the deceased. He complied with the instruction as they threatened him, but he denied that he killed the deceased,” said NPA spokesperson, Eric Ntabazalila. 

Police traced the two individuals Keyser mentioned, but DNA results excluded the duo, as only his DNA was found on the deceased’s body. Police had no evidence against the other persons except the word of Keyser.

After studying the case docket, regional court prosecutor Hyron Goulding approached another doctor for a second opinion on the cause of death. 

“The previous doctor found the cause of death as intoxication because the deceased’s blood alcohol content was very high-it was 0.31 grams per 100 ml. He sent Dr Hurst two questions: ‘With the high alcohol level, was the deceased able to give legal consent to sex? Dr Hurst wrote a supplementary affidavit wherein she indicated that individuals with blood alcohol levels above 0.31 g per 100ml are very heavily intoxicated and can be stuporous or comatose. Their mood is apathetic with mental confusion, drowsiness, and disorientation. In that state, nobody can act clearly, and she could not give consent for sex. The second question was whether the doctor could establish whether there was evidence that the deceased was murdered or not? 

“Dr Hurst made a new finding that the deceased had petechial haemorrhage on her heart and lungs, which indicates an asphyxial death. ‘she would have been forced to face downwards and most likely was unable to breathe as her airways would have been obstructed. I therefore do believe that she was murdered, the perpetrator knowing that she was not in a state to give any resistance or defend herself,”  Ntabazalila added.

Western Cape Director of Public Prosecutions, Advocate Nicolette Bell, commended the investigation and prosecution teams for their work in ensuring the cold case was solved.