A KURUMAN couple and their daughter were sentenced to life imprisonment after forcing a person who had allegedly broken into their tavern to drink liquor laced with poison.
Lesedi Motshwarakgole, 46, her husband Simon Mabogole, 57, and their daughter Boitshepo Motshwarakgole, 28, were sentenced to life imprisonment for murder and two counts of attempted murder.
Their accomplice, Dihelangkgotlha Hume, 38, was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment.
The incident happened in April 2017 at Dithakong, in the Bothitong policing precinct outside Kuruman, when a tavern belonging to Lesedi Motshwarakgole was broken into and liquor was stolen.
Three suspects were tracked down by the accused and were found with the alleged stolen liquor.
Police spokesperson Brigadier Mohale Ramatseba said the suspects were taken to the tavern where they were forced, at gunpoint, to drink liquor laced with poison.
A 29-year-old man, Charles Bonongo, was discovered lying dead next to the tavern while the other two men, Olebogeng Motswagole, 19, and Gift Thonkonyane, 30, received medical treatment at the Kuruman Hospital and were later discharged.
According to Ramatseba, the other accused, Hume, who was employed as a gardener, was instructed by his employer to assist during the commission of the offences.
The accused were declared unfit to possess firearms and their licensed firearms were forfeited to the State to be destroyed.
The district commander of John Taolo Gaetsewe, Major-General Johan Bean, applauded the investigating officer, Sergeant Obakeng Shadrack Masite, for his investigation into the case that led to the lengthy sentence handed down to the accused.
Bean also pointed out that the sentence would send a strong message that taking the law into one’s own hands was tantamount to a criminal act.
