Police tail hired gun on judge Kirby

TSHIRELETSO MOTLOGELWA
Staff Writer | Tuesday February 26, 2008 00:00

 

Presented with details about the identity of the hired killer, Kirby commented: 'Well, firstly it is a very serious matter and it has shaken the family a bit. However, we also know that the police take it very seriously given that they discovered it and informed us, and they are keeping a watch over things,' he says. 'We know that investigations are going on in South Africa,' says Kirby.
 

He says that it would be wrong for him to comment on the investigations or any matters relating to that. Police sources say the suspect is known to have hired hit men, who reportedly bungled an attempt on Kirby's life in Lobatse a few months ago.  He spent a few years in the Democratic Republic of Congo before travelling to Italy where he spent five years.  He later travelled in and out of southern Africa before settling in Pretoria, South Africa where he stays. 

The man, well known in the southern African criminal world, is said to hold a number of passports, among them those of two southern African countries and one of a European country.   Furthermore, the man, known to be 'a solver of all sorts of problems', is said to have strong links to the American and Italian mafia on the sub-continent.   Meanwhile the Criminal Investigations Division director, Wilmon Karihindi, says he cannot reveal whether suspects have already been arrested in the assassination plot against Kirby.

'Yes there are investigations. We are still engaged in investigations with our counterparts in South Africa because, remember, the plot was hatched there,' he said yesterday.
He would not reveal any details on the direction the investigation is taking. Kirby is currently under around the clock security following the uncovering of the assassination plot.