The cop excused himself from work, returned to the aunt’s house with his accomplices and they killed both the aunt and the nephew by slitting their throats.
Port Elizabeth – The 32-year-old former Welkom Flying Squad (10111) member was on Monday sentenced in the Kroonstad High Court to 30 years each (60 years in total) for the murder of his aunt and nephew, as well as 15 years for robbery.
On 1 October 2018, Constable Diphaphang Mokwena went off duty for a few hours after asking his station commander to be allowed to attend to his child who was ill in hospital, the police reported.
Instead he fetched his three co-accused and went to his aunt’s house in Kroonstad
When they arrived there, he asked his nephew to accompany him to the shop to buy cigarettes and his accomplices then strangled the aunt and left her for dead.
Mokoena returned from the shop, dropped his nephew at the gate and left. The nephew called Mokoena to inform him that people had tried to kill the aunt.
Mokoena excused himself from work for the rest of the night and returned to the aunt’s house about 2am the next morning with his accomplices and they killed both the aunt and the nephew by slitting their throats.
An investigation led to the arrest of Mokoena and his accomplices where arrested in Winburg. They were also found with a stolen TV, DVD, cellphone and three blankets.
The second accused, Martin Sebetoane Pule,35, was sentenced in October 2018 to 23 years each for the two murders (46 years in total) and 12 years for robbery.
Police said the third accused was poisoned and died during the trial, while the trial of the fourth accused, Thabiso Makha, 36, is continuing in the Kroonstad High court.
African News Agency (ANA)
