Murderer's last plea: Tsametse demands 'killer attire' return

Innocent Selatlhwa | Tuesday June 4, 2024 13:16

Tsametse has pleaded with his attorney to help him get back clothes he wore on the night he murdered his then 16-year-old cousin in March 2018. 'I have long asked for my clothes back. There was no DNA on them and also the case is now over. I would like to have them back,' he said. Tsametse said the clothes were long taken from him by the investigating officer. His attorney would promise that he would follow up with the relevant authorities to get them back. Even after being sentenced, as he walked out of the courtroom, Tsametse pleaded with his mother to follow up on his clothes.

Investigating Officer (IO) in the matter, Detective Sergeant Moses Motshegare took the stand and elucidated to the court why Tsametse had a case to answer. The IO said on March 20, 2018, he received a call from one traditional healer known as Rabeisane who told him they had a client who said he needed assistance because he had killed someone in Mogoditshane. He said he went there with his colleagues and arrived while Tsametse was being assisted. “We arrested him and went to interview him. During the interview, he told me he had killed the deceased but couldn't submit a confession statement. When I quizzed why he killed him, he said he wanted money to start a cab business,” Motshegare said.

Motshegare added Tsametse told him he wore short pants and black sneakers. “He took me to a nearby bush where he gave me the black sneakers. We then went to his house where he produced the pants and the items were sealed and taken to the forensics lab,” he said. Upon cross-examination, Tsametse’s attorney, Ngwenya, quizzed if there was any DNA found on the items seized from Tsametse. Motshegare said there was none. He, however, said they had confirmed that the other shoe tracks belonged to Tsametse’s black sneakers. Despite all that was said by witnesses pointing to him as his cousin’s killer, Tsametse told the court that he 'never did it'.

On the shoes that were exhibited in court, Tsametse said he had told Motshegare that he had thrown them away because they were torn. Tsametse has since last month been sentenced to death by Lobatse High Court's Justice Modiri Letsididi.