A MUT student is trial for murder.
Durban – Accused killer Thabani Mzolo apparently made 10 calls to different people while in the same room as his dead girlfriend, not knowing that his phone was recording each call.
In one call, to his friend Ntobeko, he says: “I shot Zo because she was being disrespectful.”
Mzolo is on trial for the May 1 murder of Mangosuthu University of Technology (MUT) student Zolile Khumalo, 21, at the Londsdale university residence in the Durban city centre.
Senior state advocate Nadira Moosa had already presented evidence of the call recordings downloaded from Mzolo’s phone, including the call to Ntobeko, who told him to get out of the residence and run away.
Mzolo responded that there was no way for him to get out of there.
The 23-year-old was arrested just moments after Khumalo’s murder, which shook the MUT student community.
Mzolo allegedly also confessed to Khumalo’s murder on Facebook, saying he wished he could resurrect her and apologise for killing her.
On Thursday, Bonokwakhe Dlamini, the lawyer representing Mzolo, continued questioning witness Simiso Buthelezi, who had testified about calls made by Mzolo after the shooting. He asked why Buthelezi had mentioned only one call and not the others.
Dlamini said he did not believe Buthelezi’s explanation that he did not mention the other calls because he did not know the contents of the calls.
“I did tell the person who took my statement that there were other phone calls made from the room in my presence, but the problem was that I did not know of the contents of those phone calls,” said Buthelezi.
He said he had left the room at some point after the shooting, and on another occasion had been told by Mzolo to wait outside and not allow anyone to come in.
When the police arrived, he met them at the building entrance and told them what had happened before Mzobe surrendered.
Dlamini concluded that Buthelezi’s evidence about the phone calls was hearsay.
Daily News
