Three individuals who were responsible for the murder of two prominent botanists from the UK in South Africa have been sentenced to life imprisonment. Rachel Saunders, 64, and Rodney Saunders, 73, were abducted in the Ngoye Forest, then later killed in February 2018, shortly after participating in a BBC Gardeners World TV program. Their bodies were discovered a few days after the incident in a river infested with crocodiles.

The victims, who were renowned botanists, had traveled to the area to gather native plants and seeds. Saffydeen Aslam del Vecchio, 46, his wife Fatima Patel, 35, and Ahmad Mussa from Malawi were found guilty of the murders in June and were each sentenced to two life terms. The sentencing occurred at the KwaZulu-Natal Local Division of the High Court in Durban, South Africa.

The respected experts in wildflowers had spent time filming a documentary with TV presenter Nick Bailey before heading to a remote forest to search for rare gladioli flowers. The perpetrators, associated with an ISIS-linked group, brutally attacked the British couple just two days later.

The assailants, after kidnapping the Saunders near Ngoye Forest, stole their belongings, including bank cards which were subsequently used for purchases in Durban. The victims were then killed and dumped in the uThukela River. Their bodies were eventually discovered on the riverbank.

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