Francistown High Court Judge, Tshepo Motswagole, last week sentenced a young man to death for the coldblooded-murder of three people in Borolong Village in the Central Administrative District.
According to the charge sheet, the accused, Gotlhalosamang Gaobakelwe, on the 17th of May in 2008 near Borolong Village killed his girlfriend, Keneilwe Ndolo, together with her two children, Ogomoditswe Ndolo and Kaone Ndolo, in what appeared to be a passion killing incident.
The facts from the prosecution reveal that the accused murdered his girlfriend and two children by hitting them with a metal rod after a misunderstanding erupted between the couple.
He then went on to kill the two children, fearing that they might become orphans, which he stated in his confession statement.
However, Gaobakelwe had earlier on denied all the charges in court, saying that he never killed any of the victims, and blamed a stranger for the incident.
“I do not find any extenuating factors in this case, especially in the death of the two innocent children, therefore the court finds the accused guilty of the charge. Therefore, he will be hanged by the neck until dead,” remarked the judge.
During mitigation, the defence attorney in the case, Nkululeko Fuzwayo, had argued before court that Gaobakelwe committed the offence because he was subjected to discrimination by the parents of the deceased since he was from the Basarwa tribe.
He begged the court to consider the fact that the accused is illiterate and is from a rough upbringing. Fuzwayo further told court that the accused committed the offence while he was under the influence of alcohol and was still a youth.
However, the prosecution dismissed the issue of intoxication and youthfulness indicating that the court cannot rely on that as the accused has consciously refused the charge leaving it to the court to keep guessing.
The court agreed with the prosecution on the fact that there are extenuating factors with regard to the killing of the girlfriend as there has been a conflict between the two arising from their relationship but condemned him on the gruesome murder of the children.
The state was represented by Reneetswe Rabosotho, assisted by Bose Senome.
