Suspected parolee in nightclub murder
Sharon Mathala | Thursday November 3, 2016 16:17
The four accused Nicholas Itshekeleng, Gobusamang Mothibi, Batshabi Montsho and Tshepo Mokalare appeared before Extension II Magistrate Ntombizodwa Ncube. The parolee is believed to be one of the four, and while prosecutors are yet to confirm, they have said the quartet are all repeat offenders.
Eyewitnesses have alleged that the parolee was the axe wielder who struck the deceased.
The gang faces three counts including that of murder. According to their charge sheet, the crime was committed in the wee hours of Sunday morning this past weekend.
The accused were further arraigned in court after the magistrate heard that police were still looking for two others linked to the crime.
According to the police, the men attacked the deceased injuring and killing him with a sharp object.
“Police investigations are ongoing, but from questioning the accused and our preliminary investigations, the four are linked to the crime,” the investigating officer (IO) told the court.
He further said: “The report came to our office at around 4am. We found the deceased lying in a pool of blood by the entrance of the filling station.
He was certified dead upon arrival at the hospital”.
Police said the gang attacked the deceased, stole his cellphone and sold it.
“The cellphone was sold to a Zimbabwean national and we are yet to recover it.
The tool(s) also used to injure and ultimately killing the deceased has also not yet been recovered,” the IO told the court.
Mmegi team that visited the Maruapula nightclub area this week found police still visible.
A Zoom nightclub bouncer, Boitumelo John, said he left the club just before 3am and saw the deceased by the parking lot area with another man.
“I left him with his friend. It was just before 3am. I waited for the cab by the filling station.
“I went inside the filling station to buy myself a snack whilst I waited. I saw three other men accompanied by a girl also come inside to buy pies,” he told Mmegi.
He continued: “I took the cab, went home and 10 minutes later I got a call that the same men, by description, had attacked the deceased”.
Witnesses at the filling station told Mmegi that the victim fled to the station covered in blood after the initial assault.
“He turned up covered in blood at the front door.
We were all scared. He screamed before falling unconscious.”
Mmegi contacted the Ministry of Justice, Defence and Security to confirm whether one of the suspects was a presidential parolee.
However, officials there referred enquiries to the Botswana Prisons Service where spokesperson, Oagile Kojane said he was not sure if the names of those pardoned were “public information”.