16 Jul 2026

A 57-year-old police officer has been spared the death penalty after Gaborone High Court judge, Justice Oteng Motlhala on Tuesday sentenced him to 25 years in prison for the murder of his wife.

The convict, Motlalekgosi Mogalakwe, had pleaded guilty to one count of the murder of  Mmasabata Mogalakwe at Kuke settlement on  April  13 2020.

The killing followed a dispute over an unanswered phone call from the previous day. 

According to court records, the misunderstanding began when Mogalakwe received a phone call in the morning and did not answer. 

The deceased insisted that he return the call, but he refused, she then took the phone and left. 

Mogalakwe approached their neighbours to help reconcile, but Mmasabata refused to hand over the phone, insisting that he call the number.

He later tried to involve another family in the mediation, and the wife again demanded to know who had called, telling neighbours to leave and warning that he would not get the phone back if he did not cooperate.

On the day of the incident, their child heard her mother screaming and telling her father to put down the knife. 

When the screams then stopped, the child saw her father come out of the house with a knife and ran to get help from neighbours.

A post-mortem examination found that Mmasabata had been stabbed about seven times in the chest and head, which caused her death.

Justice Motlhala sentenced Mogalakwe to 25 years, noting that he had admitted his actions led to Mmasabata’s death and that he had no legal justification for stabbing her with a knife. 

The judge said court records revealed that there had been ongoing misunderstandings between the couple. 

He said while the convict had earlier adopted a reconciliatory approach, the deceased was angry and uncooperative.

On the multiple stab wounds, Justice Motlhala said, ‘it was a brutal and callous attack, no doubt meant to kill the deceased.” 

He added that the severity and savagery of the attack were aggravating factors. However, the court found that the misunderstanding between the couple weighed on the accused’s state of mind at the time. 

Justice Motlhala ruled that extenuating circumstances were sufficient to reduce the accused’s moral blameworthiness, and that a sentence other than death was appropriate.

In mitigation, defence attorney Ms Kesego Malete of Malete Attorneys told the court that the convict was a father of three, two of whom are minors and are dependent on him. 

She said he had no previous criminal record, had pleaded guilty and saved the court’s time, and was caring for his terminally ill mother.

“No part of this sentence is suspended,” Justice Motlhala said.  

He ordered that the period already spent in custody be deducted from the 25 years. ENDS