24 Sep 2017

Chief Justice Mr Maruping Dibotelo has on September 21 convicted Matshidiso Boikanyo and Moabi Mabiletsa for the murder of Mr Vincent Mopipi following the final submissions by the prosecution and the defence team.

Mr Mopipi who was a cab driver at Deluxe Cabs was murdered on the night of September 13, 2013 at Block 9 in Gaborone West after taking would be clients from Puma Filling Station in Tlokweng, who had initially said they were going to the University of Botswana but later changed their destination.

Handing the judgement in a relatively packed courtroom, Justice Dibotelo said the two convicts were pathetic liars who the court could not rely upon as they sought to distance themselves from the crime though the circumstantial evidence  linked them to it.

He noted that the postmortem results showed that  Mopipi was stabbed 44 times, something which he said showed that the convicts intended to kill without any justification as they were not acting on self defence.

Justice Dibotelo said though the prosecution which was led by Ms Sali Boitumelo from the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP), relied on circumstantial evidence, it had properly linked the two as some of the people who were involved in the murder of Mopipi which was driven by malice aforethought.

He said it was also ‘quite bizarre’ that though the first accused, Boikanyo claimed that on the fateful day he never left Tlokweng and was with friends enjoying some alcoholic drinks and barbecue at some of the entertainment centres before soliciting a commercial sex worker upon which he retired home to prepare for a trip to South Africa the following day, he failed to at least call one of them to testify for him.    

The same applies to Mabiletsa who said on the fateful day he was enjoying alcoholic drinks with his former girlfriend who was state witness number five and other friends but also failed to call any one of them to give testimony in his favour.

“Given that the accused persons are suggesting that they might have had alibis, one would have expected that some of the people they allege they were with would be called to confirm that they were indeed with those people on the night of 13th September 2013 and never left either Tlokweng or Bontleng,” he said.

Justice Dibotelo therefore said in his judgement the circumstantial evidence before the court implicates both the accused as some of the people who caused the death of the deceased and should therefore be convicted of the murder of the deceased.

“In the result each of the accused persons Matshidiso Tshidi Boikanyo and Moabi Seabelo Mabiletsa is found guilty and convicted of murder contrary to Section 202 of the Penal Code Cap. 08:01,” he said ordering that the lawyers representing the accused should come to deliberate on extenuating circumstances on October 20, 2017.

Boikanyo was represented by Ms Dikeledi Dingake while Mabiletsa  was represented by Mr Kabelo Nkwe. ENDS