Former rugby player guilty in ax killings

DURBAN, South Africa (AP) A former professional rugby player and under-21 international in South Africa has been convicted on four counts of murder for a series of grisly ax killings.

The South African Press Association says Joseph Ntshongwana was also found guilty on Friday of two counts of attempted murder, one of assault with intent to commit grievous bodily harm, one of kidnapping, and one of rape.
Ntshongwana played for the Pretoria-based Blue Bulls rugby team from 1998-2000, and was a member of South Africa's Under-21 squad in 1998 alongside Springboks greats John Smit and Victor Matfield.

Ntshongwana killed the four victims with an ax in the space of a week in and around the east coast city of Durban in 2011. Two of the victims were decapitated.

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