Masilo guilty for murder
Mpho Mokwape | Friday December 14, 2018 18:00
Masilo, who is possibly now facing the death penalty, was found guilty of murder despite giving unsworn evidence that the student was in a love relationship with him and that they had a lover’s quarrel that led to the killing.
Judge Abednego Tafa dismissed Masilo’s statement that he was forced to stab the deceased because she was holding him by the private parts and in an excruciating pain.
Masilo, who has been on trial, was accused of stabbing Tshepang Motlhabane at her parent’s home at Phase 4, Gaborone on November 16, 2012. When delivering judgement yesterday, Tafa said he had found that all the witnesses had been truthful and that they had no reason to lie.
“The State had proven the intention of murder by the accused and all the witnesses were truthful in their evidence,” he said.
Tafa said Masilo was not being truthful about fearing for his life by stabbing the deceased, pointing out that there was no need to stab the deceased several times as she had three stab wounds already.
He said it was apparent from the evidence that the accused had gone to the house to commit the offence, and following resistance from the victim, he stabbed her.
“The accused was not being truthful. He went to the house with the intention to commit an offence. Following resistance, he stabbed the deceased several times. He had the intention to harm the victim,” he said. Tafa further explained that before she died, when interviewed by the police, the deceased had indicated that she did not know the accused and that she had given a description of the assailant.
He explained that even the phone that Masilo had claimed to have lent the deceased was all a lie because he never told the police that the phone belonged to him when questioned.
Further on, the allegation that he was harassed, beaten and paraded in front of the media and the public, Tafa noted that all the witnesses disputed it.
He said the security officers who arrived at the crime scene denied such allegations and that he (Tafa) had found their statement truthful.
“There was no reason for security officers to beat him since he had admitted to everything and that there was no evidence that led to ascertain that he was severely assaulted,” he said.
Tafa noted that according to the evidence, Masilo had only minor bruises reported when doctor checked him, which could have been possibly from the time he had fallen off the ceiling.
On the offence of robbery, Masilo was discharged after being found not guilty and because the judge had indicated that evidence was not led on the particular offence.
Masilo will be back in court on February 7, 2019 for the extenuation and that submissions will be made thereafter.
He is currently serving a 15-year sentence for other offences including rape and robbery.