The Journey Through Hell | The Horrific Case of Hannah Cornelius

this surveillance footage captures the final moments in which hannah cornelius and cheslin marsh were saying their goodbyes for the night but in the mere blink of an eye their pleasant evening would turn into a horrific 11-hour journey through hell what exactly happened to hannah and who did they unexpectedly meet in this car park and what were the terrible consequences good morning good afternoon or good evening my name is adrian and welcome back to another video by coffee house crime now despite the many requests for me to cover this case hannah's story is very sad and tragic and with that said viewer discretion is advised and just to let you know i post solved unsolved in strange cases here on a weekly basis so if that sounds like a kind of thing please consider subscribing to coffeehouse crime so with all said and done go grab yourself a coffee this is the case of hannah cornelius [Music] our case today takes us over to a country often covered here on coffeehouse crime welcome back to the beautiful country of south africa south africa is one of africa's most recognizable countries it is rich in culture holds profound natural beauty and has some of the friendliest people you'll ever find with its role in grasslands sprawling beaches and prominent mountains south africa provides many sights which will please the eye but saying that it also has an unshakable reputation around violence and crime this is mainly due to gang problems and femicide and the stories of these crimes rarely get media attention outside of the nation's borders today we're focusing on the town of stellenbosch located just east of cape town stellenbosch also known as ecostat in afrikaans is a university town surrounded by hundreds of vineyards many of which play parts to south africa's infamous wine industry both of these features make stellenbosch a very wealthy area to live in many oak shaded streets are lined with boutique cafes and art galleries and it's amongst this affluent area that we find the life of hannah cornelius hannah was born to her parents willem and anna cornelius on february the 12th 1996. her father willem was a magistrate for a neighboring town while her mother anna was a practicing lawyer so as you can probably tell hannah grew up in a stable and professional household and three years after hannah was born she became a sister to her younger brother who remains unnamed for his protection hana soon took on a very protective older sister figure her younger brother would come into learning difficulties and hannah was always there happy to help him as he grew up being a well-rounded and kind teenager she also enjoyed drama class and was recognised to be exceptional at it she also excelled in playing the piano safe to say she was a creative genius hannah flourished in high school she always tried her best and she would eventually secure six distinction grades with an average score of 85 percent or more on graduation both popular and happy hannah also had a high school sweetheart a young man named fanello who hannah was smitten with they would even go to the prom together much to her father's dismay he didn't like seeing his little hannah growing up and away from them so quickly there are no exaggerations to hannah's character she was kind intelligent and very hard working this of course led her to signing up for university and more specifically a bachelor's degree in humanities hannah had a curious personality with a drive to learn about the world and those around her and fast forward two months she was finally accepted into the program in summer of 2015 hannah began her bachelor's degree at stellenbosch university where she enthusiastically took to her studies although she was residing close by at the irene ladies residence hannah still needed to get to and from university it was through these means that a 90 year old grandmother therefore gifted her the car that she could no longer drive an old blue and white volkswagen city golf between classes and studying hannah dedicated her spare time to volunteer at the local tears animal sanctuary found in cape town hannah was a compassionate individual interested in the world around her while at university she found it very easy to make friends she always had people to talk to due to her willingness to help others out and her friendship circle continued to grow as she often made new connections through current fields this was the case for a very important friend of hannah's as early in her second year she would meet cheslin marsh a fellow student studying theology cheslin was much like hannah a dedicated student who worked hard and related very well to hannah's demeanor hannah often helped chesterton with his studies and chesslin would always return the favor but there were no romantic feelings between the two they were just great friends to one another moving into the year 2017 hannah and treston were well into their second year of university and after a long week of studying and working the two decided to head out for friday evening drinks with friends the night went by smoothly everyone was in good spirits or at least drinking some and hannah and tristan and the group were busily playing dominoes a popular game to play among south african students now there's nothing notable to share about this evening the conversation flowed as usual and friday's joyful moment slowly turned into the early hours of saturday may the 27th hannah could tell that their gathering was slowly coming to an end and therefore decided to call it a night but cheslan knew that the streets of stellenbosch were a dangerous place for a girl to be walking home alone and so with a skateboard in hand he offered to walk her back to the irene gull's residence which wasn't too far from his own home hannah appreciated and accepted his offer the two left their friends to head on home a rather uneventful journey they arrived at hannah's residence without any issue whatsoever but now returning the concern hannah was worried about cheslin getting back home alone you know her car was parked just around the corner so she therefore offered to drive him back chestline insisted he would be fine to ride his longboard home but hannah wasn't taking no for an answer she knew that her car was far safer than a skateboard at this time of night and so the pair stepped into hannah's volkswagen driving off towards chatlin's house of residence at 3 23 am on saturday the 27th of may hannah parked her vehicle on a small patch of grass while the pair chatted and said their goodbyes but as they were talking neither of them realized the four men walking by them along the road very little did they know that these four men would decide to circle back onto the vehicle they were up to no good and hannah and cheslin were their new unsuspecting victims with so many small details to this case and out of respect i'll be keeping the timeline of this story chronological but using a nearby truck they approached hannah and cheslin undercover and this is where our story takes a dark turn very quickly a sudden thud at the door would instantly rip chest lines and hannah's feelings of security away and after the passenger door was ripped open a sharpened screwdriver and a flip knife were pressed against their bodies the situation became very serious very real very fast the four men forced themselves into the vehicle and hannah and cheslin were now the real time victims to a carjacking it is at this point that one of the four men nashville julius leaves the other three and is no longer involved in the rest of the night's events his role to stalk and secure a random vehicle was now complete meanwhile inside the car hannah was shoved in between the two front seats she was flanked either side by vernon whitboy and geraldo parsons and in the back chestline was being pinned by ibn van nierkirk at 3 40 am hannah's rather distinct volkswagen golf drives away with all five on board these moments must have been agonizing for the pair neither cheslin or hannah knew what they were in for and sadly this was just the beginning after this surveillance footage hannah's vehicle wouldn't be seen for over an hour but at 4 34 am it was once again spotted by a surveillance camera at a petrol station located just outside of stellenbosch somewhere along this dusty road out of town the men had stopped the vehicle and forced cheslin into the boot of the car they frisked him for everything he had including his jacket and shoes as the car arrives at the petrol station a figure in a cream-colored jacket can be seen in the passenger seat a surveillance camera inside the station then captures one of the men vernon whitboy entering the shop with a wallet he had taken cheslin's card away from him and was ready to rinse it using the pin that chestline had provided unfortunately after multiple attempts to access this bank account no dice it appeared that chestline had lied about the pin number an action he would pay for later after re-entering the vehicle the five of them then continued in their journey to cry fontaine a town which neighbours stalin bosch during this entire horrific car ride and with chestline still in the boot hannah remained in the front of her grandmother's car surrounded by three unknown dangerous men she was as compliant and cooperative as possible she didn't look around she didn't argue and she didn't fight instead she stared straight ahead into the sprawling dark road the men then made several trips around the local area stopping infrequently to visit various people which were mostly drug pickups and drop-offs and during all of this time chestline was still in the boot he tried to kick the hood of the car whenever he thought the men weren't around but unfortunately it remained shut that was until 5 30 am when suddenly the men stopped the car just outside of cry fontaine hannah asked the men what they were stopping for they told hannah they were just going for a smoke break and they'd be on their way very soon ready to return her car whenever they got to their final destination it was in that moment that two of the men got out of the car went around the back and removed chestline from the trunk they were clearly mad that he hadn't given them his pin number being pushed shoved and forced to walk a short distance away from the car chestline was then commanded to lie on the floor it's at this point that chestline knew he was going to die these men were planning to take his life getting onto the ground chestline looked up the last thing he saw was two men towering over him with bricks in their hands and then all of a sudden everything went blank as the morning sun began to climb over the horizon horrors of the night were still in full momentum for hannah and unfortunately it would only get worse driving not far from where the men left cheslin the group then traveled to an unused paintball course along bottle ray road hannah was then assaulted by all three men and sadly things would get a lot worse next they drove to a vineyard hannah was then stabbed in the neck with a sharpened screwdriver before the group found a 40 kilogram rock and crushed her head with it she died instantly on impact climbing back in the car they left the motionless body of hannah along the vineyard's edge as daylight flooded the farms and savannas of south africa a young couple had awoken to a fresh spring weekend living in their quaint home along the outskirts of cry fontaine the peaceful sounds of birds and farm animals travelled throughout the air but alongside these familiar sounds the unsettling rumble of distant groaning slowly began to appear groaning which soon turned into exhaustive screams peering outside of the window the couple spotted a young man he was dazed and covered in blood and remarkably it was cheslin despite taking several bricks to the head he was miraculously alive and his mind was as clear as anything too with his friend nowhere to be found he knew he needed to seek help cheslin had actually stumbled down the road to find the closest residential building he could find and the couple he came across were understandably scared in fact at first they actually thought that cheslin was a gang thug and asked him to move along but he insisted that they call the police and soon after that they realised the weight of the situation within minutes chestline was pleading with local police to help find hannah he described the assailant's faces the car where they went anything else he could remember from the night before he desperately wanted to help find hannah but tragically it was already too late just two hours earlier and while he was still unconscious hannah had already been found she was confirmed to be dead as the lives of hannah's friends and family were turned upside down police went out in a relentless search to find cheslin's and hannah's assailants they knew they were looking for a small blue and white volkswagen and much to their luck they wouldn't have to search very hard as this car had already been spotted throughout the late morning i guess this is reflective of their stupidity and callousness but vernon eben and geraldo had unbelievably carried on with their crime spree after murdering hannah cornelius they were spotted numerous times around cry fontaine the men had reportedly chased down a woman on her way to work before robbing her of her bag and her cellphone these men were not seen again for a few hours after this but at 1pm that very same day they attacked yet another woman this time kidnapping her surveillance cameras captured the car at a nearby shell petrol station the cctv shows the blue volkswagen pulling into the gas station note that the woman they had kidnapped is in the back of the car with even van nearkirk at this time this seems to be a habit of his but whitboy then exited the car made his way to an atm and attempted to withdraw money from the woman's account they withdrew 3 000 rand the equivalent of 200 or 150 pounds thankfully their victim this time was safely dropped off along a rural road vernon and geraldo then dropped even off at his home giving him his share of 1 000 rand for his actions and after this they then tried to pawn the car off to random strangers very little did they know that the police had already been alerted to their movements throughout the morning and now they were ruthlessly closing in on them as they continued to cruise around the night began with six people bundled into hannah's volkswagen golf which had now reduced to only two men vernon whitboy and geraldo parsons just one hour later an undercover police vehicle spotted the missing car driving by and as the pursuit began a second police fan joined in on the chase desperately trying to evade law enforcement the men inside the blue volkswagen gulf pulled into the driveway of a nearby private farm innocent bystanders are seen watching from the distance as a detective quickly exits and pursues them on foot they continue to speed away but fortunately further down the driveway a security gate blocks the blue volkswagen from driving any further the two men make a run for it one sprinting and jumping into the river below but this is ultimately in vain they get themselves trapped and cannot escape from the officers many of them who are now hot on their tail armed and ready to fire their sick and twisted game was now finally over following the arrest both whitboy and geraldo were more than happy to name the other two men behind these terrible crimes which therefore led to both of their arrests the very next day now i just want to take one moment to highlight how very little these men disregarded their victims lives these men were happy to murder two innocent people and terrorize a couple more for a mere couple hundred dollars following the news hannah's family were distraught and in fact her parents william and anna were inconsolable the emotional pain inflicted upon them seemed to entirely consume them throughout the following months and while authorities built a case against their suspects hannah's parents created a foundation in honor of their daughter aptly named the hannah cornelius foundation this foundation is to help young people at risk by providing education counselling and guidance honestly i wish i could stand here and tell you that there would be no more deaths from the hands of these four men but tragically there would soon be a second in march of 2018 less than one year since hannah's death her mother anna cornelius was found dead floating in the waters of the south atlantic ocean although deemed as an accident willem insists that his wife had given up with her life he believes the pain of losing her daughter was simply too much for her to bear she found herself walking into the ocean and quite simply giving up in the wake of this tragedy a strong case was being built against the men who killed hannah and attempted to kill cheslin and in may of 2018 their court proceedings would finally begin the evidence against them was solid they had testimonies confessions from both vernon and geraldo surveillance footage forensic evidence and most importantly cheslin who took to the stand during court the very rock used to kill hannah had even been brought in as evidence from the blunt force trauma caused by multiple bricks to the skull he has sadly been rendered to death in one ear bravely taking to the stand against his assailants he stared at them right in the eyes and seriously this man was on a mission to honor his friend hannah although his testimony was tearful and gut-wrenching to listen to his family were there to support him along each and every step along the way although this case was clearly stacked against these four men only two of them would actually confess to their actions and in fact all four pleaded not guilty to their crimes throughout these court appearances it appeared as if these men held very little remorse for their actions and something i simply cannot wrap my head around but these men even smiled and laughed throughout their trial ultimately vernon whitboy geraldo parsons and even van nierkirk were sentenced to life in prison and nashville julius who left the beginning of the night was sentenced to 22 years for aid and robbery and kidnapping hannah cornelius death was the product of venomous selfish intent four men with no care for anyone but themselves took to the streets to quote see what they could get with no compassion no care and no consciousness their demonic behavior resulted in the grisly death of an innocent student and permanent physical damage to another the level of disregard and evil in these men is quite simply outstanding honestly i hope all four rot behind bars with the story so heartbreaking the best we can do is remember hannah for who she was hannah was a caring and helpful individual known to help anyone in their time of need that be with studying or volunteering and in fact even her final night proved this as she gave a friend a lift home she was always her own person someone who didn't listen to negative opinions and thoughts of others and instead she insisted upon her own positive mentality through and through hannah seemed like a lovely person her family should be proud for who she became i've already said this in a previous case but in south africa an average of eight women are killed by men every single day proportional to population that's five times higher than the global average hannah and nene and jade and carabo are all victims of the ongoing fight in south africa against famicide an ever-growing long list of senseless tragedies to this very day hannah's brother who doesn't understand what happened to her due to his severe autism still asks when she is coming home chestlin surviving the attack is nothing short of a miracle but his survival hasn't made his life easy due to the physical and emotional trauma caused by the attack he has had to take a break from his studies he has since re-enrolled into his studies and has switched over to law in the noble effort to aid those like him and hannah and in a way her legacy somewhat lives on with him now there is actually a current fundraiser to help fund cheslin with his studies i'll leave a link to the campaign down below and for those interested in the hana cornelius foundation which helps support children and youth vulnerable to violence i'll leave a link down below too this is one of the hardest cases i've experienced and unfortunately there is no solid way to wrap this case up it feels like we've been left with nothing but tragedy and sadness i really hope that cheslin and hannah's families find peace in their struggles moving forward and so finishing up here thank you so much for watching another video today by coffeehouse crime i really appreciate you folks sticking around what are your thoughts on the case of hannah cornelius please share your thoughts in the comment section down below and as always folks i'll see you again real soon for another video but in the meantime please make sure to look after each other thank you and goodbye [Music]

Channel: Coffeehouse Crime

Views: 2,383,142

Keywords: coffeehouse crime, true crime, coffee house crime, crime, South Africa, Stellenbosch, cheslin marsh, drive, night ride

Id: DUOHEN3cvoI

Length: 21min 29sec (1289 seconds)

Published: Mon Jun 20 2022