Attorney Meshack Mthimkulu representing a ‘hitman’ who killed a man in Ntlhantlhe in the Southern District in 2008 pleaded with the three man panel of Court of Appeal (CoA) judges led by Isaac Lesetedi that his client, Daniel Semi, aged 38 receive less sentence.
The particular of the offence is that the three accused persons acting jointly murdered Montlhanka Mokutwa. It is said this was the plan by one Agisanyang Motukwa, the son to the deceased who ordered Semi to kill his father.
“The second appellant was an agent for this murder and it was the first appellant who was the mastermind and the accomplice witness. The first appellant did inform the accomplice witness to recruit the second appellant and he was in the dark on what was going in this whole process,” argued Mthimkulu, adding that it is Motukwa who pushed his client into the house where the crime is said to have taken place.
“The second appellant has little education background and looks up to the first appellant who has some influence over him. This principal has been given a second chance and agents have been sentenced to death even though they did not have anything to do with this case,” said Mthimkulu.
Initially, there were four accused persons, the fourth one being Modise Sekai who had the charge withdrawn against him as he was sworn in as an accomplice witness in terms of Section 237 (1) of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act. “The sentence should reflect that there was a principal offender. The court below did err that there was no extenuating circumstances in the case,” said Mthimkulu.
Motukwa was alleged to have hired two hit men to kill his father after believing he was bewitching him. The State lawyer, Rahim Khan was in pain to explain to Justice Lesetedi why the first appellant received light sentence even though he was the mastermind in the case. “The first appellant was the mastermind in this case, what do you say about this. He did organize everything. He directed what to be done, when should the murder be done and at the end of the day he got away with lucky escape and people got ultimate sentence,” asked Justice Lesetedi.
In his response, Khan said, “I admit that if the court think the low court erred it is at liberty to decide,” he said. Meanwhile Moses Kadye who is representing the third appellant, Gaolathe Thusang aged 35 urged the court to consider that there were extenuating circumstances in the murder which the lower court failed to see.
Motukwa, who is said to have hired the two to kill his father after believing he was bewitching him, was sentenced to 25 years in jail while the duo were condemned to death by Lobatse High Court Judge, Justice Michael Leburu in 2013.