Passion killer threatened to stab the police-IO
Goitsemodimo Kaelo | Friday August 4, 2017 15:12
Mogotsi is facing a single count of murder for allegedly strangling to death, his 21-year-old girlfriend Maria Lesolebe from Lerala village, who was a student at Boitekanelo College on July 3, 2017. The couple stayed together at Boshibidu ward in Tlokweng.
When testifying before magistrate Ntombizodwa Ncube, Detective Inspector Rapelang Gaolekwe of Tlokweng Police said the accused was not cooperating with the police upon his arrest. He said the accused wielded a knife in his right hand and tried to stab a police officer when he was arrested.
“He was not cooperative when we arrested him. We had to fire a warning shot in the air to calm him. He wanted to fight us and tried to stab another police officer with a knife he was holding in his right hand,” Gaolekwe said when motivating for an extension of the accused’s remand. Gaolekwe told the court that they received a report of a missing person from Ben Lemme, the accused’s father, on July 5, 2015 and commenced the search.
He said they looked for Mogotsi, whom they could not find at the house where he stayed with the deceased. “We tried to locate the suspect, but could not find him until the 11th July when he saw us at Goo-kadisa village and ran away. We failed to arrest him.
On the 16th July, we received information that he is in Lerolwane village near Kanye. We went there but upon arrival were told he has gone to Banyana farm. We arrived there on the 18th around 4am and arrested him at a shebeen,” he added. Furthermore, he told the court that when interviewed, the suspect confessed to killing the deceased by strangling.
“He further told us that he had dug a grave on July 2, in a room next to the one he stayed with the deceased. The suspect said he killed the deceased because she had not slept at their place that night, but came home on the third around 11am. He then waited until it was dark, then he buried her in the grave.”
The IO also said they exhumed the decomposed body of the deceased after the suspect led the police to the crime scene and showed them where he buried the body. He further said the suspect is not a candidate for bail because he could kill another person judging by how he plans his crime. He also stated that the accused is out on bail for another murder case, which he allegedly committed in 2012.
The IO said the suspect had intention to kill the deceased as he prepared the grave a night before he executed the crime. According to information gathered, the accused is alleged to have murdered his co-worker at one of the farms in Tlokweng. He was granted bail in that matter in 2014 after he was committed to the High Court. However, the accused denied running away from the police and trying to stab a police officer.
He also said he was cooperative when the police arrested. “The police assaulted me in front of the IO. That’s why I ended up admitting to the crime, (of running away)” said Mogotsi. Bail application ruling has been reserved for August 17, 2017.