South Korean killer’s mitigation fails, sent to death row
Pini Bothoko | Wednesday September 9, 2026 06:00
Makati was convicted in connection with the October 2016 armed robbery and murder of South Korean national Ja Chul Koo, who was working on a project to refurbish Morupule A Power Station.
Koo and his compatriot, Moonhan Jang, were reportedly working on the Palapye based project, which was being undertaken by a Korean company, when they were attacked in the dead of night. In passing sentence after considering whether there were circumstances that could mitigate the seriousness of the offence, Justice Sechele said the court had considered all the facts cumulatively but found that they did not amount to extenuating circumstances. “The Court has considered all the facts with a view to determine whether or not they are, in their cumulative effect, extenuative. “My conclusion is that they are not,” Justice Sechele ruled. The judge described the attack as an elaborate plan targeting the victims at a time when they were most vulnerable. “The convict, hatched an elaborate plan to attack the deceased and his colleague at a time when they were most vulnerable. The attack was launched in the dead of night,” he added. According to court documents, during the attack, a firearm was discharged, resulting in Koo sustaining a fatal gunshot wound, while Jang was shot in the thigh but survived.
The attackers also allegedly stole the victims’ personal belongings, including laptops, mobile phones and cash. Justice Sechele argued that the motive behind the attack was greed, describing murder committed in the course of a robbery as a serious violation of both the right to property and the right to life. “Murder in the process of robbing the victim is a brazen attack on both the right to property and the right to life,” he said. The judge consequently concluded that there were no extenuating circumstances capable of warranting a sentence other than death. Makati’s lawyer had argued that his client had spent the night drinking before the offence and that his faculties were therefore impaired when the crime was committed. The defence counsel also submitted that the offence was not premeditated. However, Justice Sechele rejected the arguments as insufficient to establish extenuating circumstances.
The court noted that Makati was about 25 years old when he committed the offence and the judge held that the convict was a mature adult who possessed the ability to distinguish between right and wrong. “At that age, he was a mature adult who was fully armed with the power of discernment,” Justice said. The judge explained that a finding of extenuating circumstances is essentially a moral assessment of the circumstances surrounding an offence and does not affect an accused person’s legal culpability. Sechele said the inquiry recognises that human beings may sometimes act under circumstances that affect their judgment. However, he noted that such circumstances must have had a sufficiently appreciable effect on the accused’s state of mind to reduce his moral blameworthiness. Justice Sechele said the court must, amongst other things, establish whether there were facts relevant to extenuation, including factors such as immaturity, intoxication or provocation. It must then determine whether those factors, considered cumulatively, probably influenced the accused’s state of mind when the offence was committed. Also, it must ultimately determine whether their effect was sufficiently appreciable to reduce the accused’s moral blameworthiness. Sechele explained that the circumstances must be strong enough to leave the court with the conclusion that although the accused committed the offence, there was an underlying moral reason that significantly reduced his blameworthiness.
“The purpose of this ruling is to determine whether or not there are extenuating circumstances which abate his moral blameworthiness in the commission of this offence,” he said. The court’s inquiry was conducted under Section 203(2) of the Penal Code, which provides that where a court, after convicting a person of murder, is of the opinion that there are extenuating circumstances, it may impose a sentence other than death. In Makati’s case, however, the court found that neither the alleged intoxication nor the argument that the offence was not premeditated sufficiently reduced his moral blameworthiness. The case dates back to October 2016, when the victims Koo and Jang were attacked while working in Palapye on the Morupule A Power Station refurbishment project. Makati was initially arrested together with Kagiso Gaadingwe and Tshiamelo Ntshese in connection with the case. However, the two co-accused were acquitted in April 2026 after the court found that there was insufficient evidence linking them to the offence.
Following his arrest, Makati faced charges including robbery, grievous bodily harm, unlawful possession of ammunition and unlawful possession of a firearm. With the death sentence now imposed, Makati becomes one of the inmates on Botswana’s death row. The development brings the number of inmates on death row in Botswana to 23.