In a landmark decision, three individuals have been sentenced to life imprisonment by the KwaZulu-Natal division of the Durban High Court in South Africa. The defendants - Saffydeen Aslam del Vecchio, 46, Fatima Patel, 35, and Ahmad Mussa - were convicted for the kidnapping, robbery, and murder of British botanists Rachel Saunders, 64, and her husband Rodney, 73, in February 2018. The couple, who held dual South African and British citizenship, were on a research trip in the Ngoye Forest, 150km north of Durban, when they were abducted while collecting indigenous plants and seeds. Their bodies were discovered days later in a river. In addition to the two life terms for murder, each defendant received 15 years' imprisonment for robbery with aggravating circumstances and four years for theft. Del Vecchio was also sentenced to five years' imprisonment for an unrelated case of malicious damage to property. It is worth noting that Patel had previously been arrested in 2016 during a separate anti-terrorism raid near Johannesburg, but neither she nor her brother were charged. The trio was found guilty of stealing the couple's belongings, including bank cards that were used for purchases near Durban shortly after their disappearance. Approximately 734,000 rand (£42,000; $44,700) was reportedly drained from their bank accounts, and their vehicle was found with bloodstains following the incident. The sentences of the accused will run concurrently. Rachel and Rodney were owners of a seed business in Cape Town, and their tragic demise has sent shockwaves through the international scientific community.