True Crime with Rachel Shannon
The Most TERRIFYING Story I've Told: The Torture and Murder of Hannah Cornelius & Cheslin Marsh
Mon, 28 Apr 2025
Hannah Cornelius and Cheslin Marsh thought that they were about to end their fun night out on a high note- they had taken all of the necessary precautions to make sure they both made it home safely. However, when they least suspected it, the pair was ambushed by a group of men who would take them through the most terrifying, horrific 11 hours of torture. Go watch my other episodes on Spotify: The Disturbing Case of Stephanie ParzeShe Tried to Warn Them About her Son, Then he was MURDERED. THE CASE OF GUNNAR SCHUMACHER7 Year old’s Strange Death Reveals Mom’s DISGUSTING Secret: Did She Starve her for Attention?!
Chapter 1: What happened to Hannah Cornelius and Cheslin Marsh?
What happened to Hannah Cornelius and Cheslin March is something straight out of a horror movie. All they wanted to do was have a fun little night as best friends after a long week of studying at university, but instead they were kidnapped and put through 11 hours of the most horrific torture.
Chapter 2: Who were Hannah Cornelius and Cheslin Marsh?
so terrifying it's beyond comprehension how there are human beings walking this earth who are capable of putting another person through such terror let's get into the case this is hannah and cheslin's story hannah cornelius was born on february 12 1996 in cape town south africa to parents willem and anna cornelius
and she had a younger brother who I don't believe has been named, but he was diagnosed with autism. By all accounts, Hannah and her little brother were raised in a stable, loving home with parents who were decently well-off and who loved their children to bits. Hannah's parents said that from the time she was just a baby, Hannah was an easy child.
She was known to have a very kind and caring nature, never causing anyone around her any difficulties or drama. She was responsible, diligent, and compassionate. She was very level-headed, and it even got to the point when, as a child, she would have a say in important family matters because of how fair and level-headed she was.
For Hannah's 16th birthday, she told her family that she didn't want gifts or money. She said that she couldn't in good conscience spend money on herself while the people around her were living in poverty. Instead, she opted to make gift packs for children of the Red Hill informal settlement. She continued this tradition for every birthday after. Now, both Hannah's parents worked in law.
Willem worked as a magistrate in a neighboring town. For those of you who don't know what that is, because I certainly didn't, a magistrate is a civil officer who holds some power over decision making in court cases. It's similar to a judge. but they have limited authority over certain issues. Meanwhile, Anna, she worked as a lawyer.
Of course, Hannah's parents always wanted her to pursue some sort of career in law, but she wanted to go a different direction with her life. When Hannah applied to the University of Stellenbosch, Hannah told her parents that she wanted to major in something that would allow her to have a job that would actually really help people. People who really needed it most.
So she wanted to earn her bachelor's degree in humanities. Specifically, she majored in languages, literature, and philosophy. Then she wanted to go on to attend postgraduate school. Overall, her parents were incredibly proud for the amazing, genuine, kind young woman that Hannah was becoming.
A few months after applying to the University of Stellenbosch, Hannah was accepted and thus she was launched into her studies. She stayed at a nearby woman's residence and drove her grandmother's old Volkswagen car to get to and from school. After starting school, Hannah excelled in her studies and in her social life. She made tons of friends and did well in her classes.
While in university, Hannah met Cheslin March, a 22-year-old who quickly became her closest friend. He, too, was a hardworking, down-to-earth student, and he and Hannah got along incredibly well. The two helped each other through classes and spent their free time together going to dance clubs or just chilling together after a long day.
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Chapter 3: What events led to the kidnapping of Hannah and Cheslin?
One of the men, who I will now name as Nashville Julius, quickly grabbed Cheslin's cell phone and wallet from him before fleeing the scene. As far as we know, that is the entirety of Nashville's involvement in all of this. Now, at that point, Hannah was begging for the other three men to just take what they wanted and leave.
They were talking about taking the car, saying that they wanted to sell it, and Hannah would have let them have whatever they wanted. All she wanted was for her and Cheslin to survive this. But that isn't what happened. After Nashville Julius fled with the phone and wallet, one of the men then forced Cheslin into the back seat where one of the men sat with him.
So, now the seating situation was that Hannah was still shoved between the two front seats, but now she was stuck between two of these assailants, while Cheslin was in the back seat sitting by another one of the assailants. After that, the five of them drove away in Hannah's Volkswagen.
After they drove off, we don't know the exact movements of the car for about an hour after this, as they were not caught on CCTV footage during that time. But at some point in this hour, the assailants stopped the car and forced Cheslin to get out and pushed him into the trunk of the car.
As that was happening, they stole everything off of him they could, including his debit card, his jacket, and his shoes. Now, Hannah was by herself in the main part of the car with the three kidnappers. By 4.34 a.m., the car was captured on CCTV at a local petrol station just outside of the area of Stellenbosch.
There, one of the men got out of the car and walked into the store where he attempted to withdraw money from an ATM with Cheslin's card. But after several attempts, they weren't able to because they couldn't figure out the PIN. It was said in some reports that Cheslin gave the wrong pin in an attempt to prevent them from draining his bank account.
After this failed attempt, the man got back into the car with their victims. After that, the kidnappers drove the car to a nearby town called Kryfoten, located about 12 miles outside of Stellenbosch. By the way, I do apologize if I'm pronouncing any of these names wrong. I'm obviously not from South Africa.
I tried my best to phonetically spell them out based on how I heard them pronounced, but if I do pronounce them incorrectly, I do apologize in advance. Either way, once they got to Crafentaine, they made a few different stops with a few different people in the area.
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Chapter 4: How did the kidnapping unfold?
They made a few drug pickups and in one of the homes, they brought Hannah inside with them and stayed there for a bit to smoke and do drugs. before coming back out to the car and driving off once again. The three men drove around for about an hour total after leaving the gas station before they stopped in a remote area outside of town. By this point, it was around 5.30 a.m. again on May 28th.
There, two of the men got out of the car and grabbed Cheslin from the trunk while one of the men remained in the car with Hannah. They forced him to get out of the trunk and walk into the bush. They then forced him to lay on the ground, which he did. In that moment, Cheslin knew that he was going to die.
After lying on the ground, he looked up and saw two men standing over him holding bricks that they had found scattered around the ground. Then, they start viciously beating Cheslin over the head over and over and over again with the bricks until he stopped fighting them and fell unconscious, confident that they had killed him.
Now, like I said, Hannah and another man were in that car while the two other men went and beat Cheslin to death. After waiting in the car for about a half hour, the other men came back to the car without Cheslin.
The man that was in the car with Hannah asked the two other men what happened, and apparently they said that they tied Cheslin up and were leaving him there so that they could sell the car.
They made it sound like he was still alive, that they pretty much just brought him out there, tied him up, and then left so that they had enough time while Cheslin was tied up and, you know, was either figuring out how to get out or until someone found him. That's pretty much how they made it seem. So the two men then got back into the car and off they drove.
They headed back to a shack in Crafentaine where two of the men went inside before coming back out to continue their journey. It's once again assumed that this was some sort of drug pickup or they just stopped to do drugs or something like that. They then started heading back towards Stellenbosch. On their way, they stopped at this abandoned paintball facility where they knew they would be alone.
There, Hannah was terrified. She was trying her best to bargain with these men, begging for her life. But in that moment, she knew she was going to be raped. There was no way out of it. So she told the men that she wouldn't struggle if they raped her. She promised not to tell anyone. She just wanted to live, so they could do whatever they wanted to her as long as they let her live.
In the horrifying minutes that followed, two of the men forced Hannah out of the car and onto the ground where they took turns raping Hannah. One of the men later claims that he stayed in the car while this was happening so he could smoke his drugs. He said that he watched as the two men raped her, and in that moment, he made eye contact with her.
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Chapter 5: What were the assailants' actions after the kidnapping?
Now, while all that was happening, by around 6 a.m. the following day on May 29th in the area of Crichton, there was a couple who lived in one of the more rural areas who went outside on their farm only to hear the faint sounds of a sort of moaning sound. That noise turned into a yell, and at that point, it was clear that someone was calling for help.
They looked around the area in the bush to see where the sound was coming from, and that is when they spotted a young man who had clearly been severely beaten. He was absolutely covered in blood, barely able to stand, stumbling around as he made his way towards the couple, still begging for help.
At first, the couple thought that this was maybe some gangster who was up to no good, but after seeing his condition and hearing his desperate pleas, they soon realized the gravity of the situation. They called 911 and flagged down a passing car who stopped and transported the man to a nearby hospital for treatment. If you haven't guessed by now, this man was Cheslin Marsh.
Miraculously, he survived his vicious attack. Cheslin would later say that he remembers the attack. The men were berating him for not giving him the pin number to his debit card, so that is why they beat him with the bricks. When he woke up hours later, he remembers his first thought being to get help. But when he looked up and looked around, he was surrounded by trees and sand.
He was in the middle of nowhere. He got up and started walking in his socks because, again, the men stole his shoes. He felt as glass cut the bottoms of his feet as he wandered. He reached a point where he saw that he was surrounded by high walls so he knew that he was close to someone who could help him. He said he was so weak he had no idea how, but he did end up climbing over those walls.
He made his way into the yard of that couple who spotted him and as we know, they helped him get a ride to the hospital. He was alive from the attack, but the attack caused significant injuries. His arm was fractured. He had multiple open head wounds, a skull fracture, and brain bleeds. Thankfully, his brain bleeds and skull fractures did heal, but he was left with complete deafness in one ear.
That hearing loss is permanent, so he will never hear out of that ear again. But given everything that he suffered, that seems like an okay price to pay given that Cheslin was very, very lucky to survive his injuries at all. And for the most part, he gained most of his function back. A lot of people with head injuries that severe will not be able to walk. They might not be able to talk.
And they might have very, very limited function for the rest of their lives. But thankfully, Cheslin was lucky enough to gain back most of his function, obviously besides his hearing, which is a devastating loss. At the hospital, Cheslin spoke with police, informing them of what he went through.
He gave the descriptions of what happened that night, as well as of the men who were responsible for what happened. He desperately wanted to help them find his friend. However, it was around this time that he found out that Hannah had already been found.
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Chapter 6: What happened to Cheslin during the attack?
Julius took Cheslin's cell phone and wallet before leaving, as I stated earlier. Then, as we know, the three men put Cheslin in the trunk and tried using his debit card to get the money, but they couldn't. While driving, Vernon said that he noticed Geraldo had a firearm, but he hadn't known that previously. He just noticed it in that moment.
At some point in the night, the men then met back up with Nashville to get more drugs. But again, as far as we know, he didn't take any more part in harming Cheslin or raping and murdering Hannah. After doing more drugs, the three men then drove around doing more drugs in the car while Hannah was sitting with them and Cheslin was in the trunk.
Vernon said that Geraldo was driving when they pulled over to that secluded area. Geraldo then took Cheslin to the bushes with Eben. So according to Vernon, he didn't take part in beating Cheslin, it was the two other men. And when they came back, they told him that all they did was tie him up and he believed them.
Now, when questioning the other men, they did admit to beating Cheslin and they said that their intention was to kill him. They only left when they thought he was dead. After that, they drove around more, smoked more drugs, before stopping again. According to Vernon, Geraldo was the one who brought up having sex with the girl.
Vernon said that he told Geraldo that he wasn't about that, he was only there for the money. According to him, Geraldo and Eben were the ones that took Hannah to that secluded area by the paintball building and they took turns raping her. He said that the men came back and told Vernon that he missed out. He said that Geraldo was first and Eben was second.
After the rapes, as we know, they drove to a nearby vineyard. Vernon said that Geraldo and Eben took Hannah, who was injured and defenseless, to that vineyard before they hit her with the rock, ending her life. However, Vernon said that the men didn't tell him about hitting her with the rock.
They told Vernon that they just tied her up and left her there to be discovered by farmers that following day. As Vernon was telling that part of the story, according to some reports, he started to break down in tears.
So to sort of summarize what Vernon said in his confession, he was basically claiming that yes, he took part in the kidnapping and he knew about the rape of Hannah and didn't do anything to stop it. But he said that he did not know that the other men attempted to kill Cheslin and he did not know that they killed Hannah. He genuinely thought that they were just tied up and were left there.
I personally don't believe this story at all and I don't think investigators did either. But what do you guys think? After hearing this confession and knowing what happened from Cheslin's account, Vernon, Geraldo, and Eben were all charged with multiple counts of aggravated robbery, two charges of kidnapping, one each of rape and murder.
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Chapter 7: How did Cheslin manage to escape?
And after all, the words that they spoke were coming from violent criminals, so we truly don't know who, if anyone, is telling the truth. So it only makes sense to find all three men responsible. So at the end of the trial, they found Vernon Wittabue, Geraldo Parsons, and even Van Niekerk guilty on all charges. Each man was handed a life sentence for his crimes.
Meanwhile, Nashville Julius was also found guilty for his roles, which were the kidnapping and robbery. For this, he was given a sentence of 15 years, which I am glad that he was given a relatively harsh sentence, even though he didn't kill or rape anybody. He clearly hung out with some really horrible people and did some really horrible things himself.
So I wouldn't put it past him at all to continue committing awful crimes if he was given a shorter sentence.
It is ordered that one, on count one, the robbery with aggravating circumstances of Cheslin Claude Marsh accused one, two, three, and four are guilty. On count two, the robbery with aggravating circumstances of Hannah Cornelius. Accused one, two, three and four are guilty. On count three, the kidnapping of Cheslin Claude Marsh. Accused one, two, three and four are guilty.
On count four, the kidnapping of Hannah Cornelius. Accused one, two, three and four are guilty. A fee can sit. On count five, the attempted murder of Cheslin Claude Marsh, accused one, two and three are guilty. On count six, the murder of Hannah Cornelius, accused one, two and three are guilty. On count seven, the rape of Hannah Cornelius, accused one, two, and three are guilty.
Count eight, the robbery with aggravated circumstances of Incomisa Guiquina, accused one, two, and three are guilty. On count nine, the robbery with aggravated circumstances of Mimi October, accused one, two, and three are guilty. On count 10, the kidnapping of Mimi October, accused one, two, and three are guilty.
In the aftermath of all of this, obviously everybody involved is heartbroken. Cheslin is absolutely traumatized. After the trial, he said that he is happy just as has been served and he is ready to put all of this behind him. Obviously, he said that he will still try to carry on Hannah's legacy and keep her name alive.
He obviously had to quit school for a while during all of this, but he did start back up. And by all accounts, He excelled in his classes.
I feel amazing. I feel like justice has been served on a platter. And like, what an extra little bit of dessert. There's nothing else I can say, but I'm just quite relieved that this chapter is the end of my life now.
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Chapter 8: What was the outcome of the incident?
Her 16th birthday fell shortly after a backpacking trip to India with her mother. And when you ask her what she would like to have for a birthday party or birthday present, She informed us that she could not in good conscience spend money on herself while people around her were living in poverty.
She made and we accepted her proposal to rather make up gift bags for the children in the nearby informal settlement. This was also how she celebrated her subsequent birthdays at home. When she enrolled in the University of Stellenbosch, Hannah informed us, I must admit somewhat to our dismay, that she had absolutely no interest in pursuing a career in law.
According to her, she wanted to do something that would actually help people. It wasn't quite clear exactly how she intended to achieve that aim, but she presented a well-thought-out and eloquently argued plan for a future. She would major in languages, literature, and philosophy, which she loved, and then pursue postgraduate studies in France.
The theme of helping was a constant in her life, and I understand it may have led indirectly to the reason why we are here today. If that is indeed the case, then I am even more proud of her. Me and her mother were immensely proud of raising a child for the new South Africa. My wife, in addition to being my best friend, was the strongest and most competent person I have ever met.
She became a shadow of herself, inconsolable, frantic, almost manic in everything she did. Ultimately still in control, but inside she had very little to give. No one really knows what happened on that early morning when she decided to go swimming in an ice cold and stormy Atlantic Ocean. For myself, I do not believe that she committed suicide or she ended herself.
But what I do believe is that she did not have the physical or mental strength left to counter any difficulties that she may have experienced. My son Andries does not understand the concept of death. Every night when I put him to bed, he stops in front of a framed photograph of Hannah and asks, when are the days over? When is she coming home?
This has now been going on every night for a year and a half.
Overall, this is just a horrible, awful case. What Hannah went through in her final moments is straight out of a nightmare and it's something that nobody should ever have to live through. I don't understand why these monsters couldn't just let her go after they got their money.
i don't understand how or why it escalated the way they did hannah's life could have been spared they could have just taken her damn car like they wanted but instead these subhuman pieces of garbage took it way too far and tortured a young woman who had so much potential so much life to live
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