Alleged Palapye murderers denied bail
Bonte Seepi | Thursday November 17, 2016 16:14
On the first count, the accused, Kabelo Mooketsi, 25, Kitso Makati, 25, Kagiso Gaadingwe, 24, Gaofenngwe Lekagane, 22, Kitso Seeiso, 37, and one other who was not before court, are alleged to have acted in concert to kill Indian man, Ja Chul Koo at his residence at Extension 2 in Palapye on October 30, 2016.
According to the charge sheet, on the same day, the same gang also acted together to steal a Samsung Note 5 cellphone valued at P8,000, a black Samsung S4 cellphone worth P5,400, a white Samsung laptop worth P12,000, a Silver Rolex wrist watch worth P7,000 and P8,500 in cash. The accused robbed Moon Han Jal of property worth P40,900.
They are alleged to have used violence in obtaining the properties and in the process they shot with a gun another victim, Moolman Jang, in the right leg. On the third and fourth counts, Lekagane and the last four accused were on October 13, 2016 found in illegal possesion of Musgrave 80 rifle Serial M200 S536, 18 R.P 270 and 18 PMP 270 ammunitions.
The prosecutor, inspector Ditsapelo Emmanuel told court that the postmortem has been conducted on the deceased, but said they are still awaiting the results.
He also stated that the prosecution has not yet arrested the sixth accused person and have not recovered one of the stolen cellphones.
“I therefore, plead for the accused persons to be remanded in custody to allow the prosecution time to enable them to complete the investigations. We hope to arrest the sixth accused person. So, I am afraid if given bail, the accused persons might tamper with our investigations,” Emmanuel pleaded.
On their part, the accused pleaded for bail. Makati disclosed that he was remanded at Gaborone for a different matter only to be brought to Palapye and be assaulted by police officers.
He pleaded with the magistrate to give him bail or otherwise assist him with going to the hospital for injuries he sustained whilst in police custody.
Gaadingwe and Lekagane, who are both students at Palapye Technical College, pleaded for bail in order to be able to write their final examinations.
Lekagane said: “Your worship, at least give me a chance to write the examinations. Even if it means I would write under police escort, I would appreciate that because missing those examinations would cost me in life”.
The magistrate responded thus: “Students, you can’t be given bail because you are appearing for very serious allegations, including murder and robbery . The prosecution is afraid to release you because they fear that you may tamper with their investigations.
They may not be able to recover the remaining cellphone and arrest your counterpart. Nonetheless, you shall be assisted; the prosecution would see how to help you write your examinations”.
Motsamai therefore ruled that the accused persons be held in custody until November 28, when they will appear for mention.