Big Joe and murder co-accused released on bail
They were released on R1 000 bail each.
After an urgent bail application by the defence attorney, Joseph Nyalungu (54) and co-accused Elvis Mulimi (50) appeared in White River Magistrate’s Court today. They were released on R1 000 bail each.
The two were scheduled to appear on July 28. They are facing charges of murder and kidnapping, following the death of Willey Shipalana (36) in 2010.
The case was postponed to August 14, for fixing of a trial date in the Nelspruit Regional Court.
Earlier this week, the notorious Nyalungu (Big Joe) was dramatically apprehended for a murder he and two accomplices allegedly committed that year.
Using severe tactical response, Big Joe was woken up by an SAPS Nyala ploughing through his gate in Hazyview, before a task team swooped in on him.
Nyalungu and Mulimi, who was arrested on the same day, are suspected to have abducted and beaten Shipalana to death 10 years ago, before discarding his body in Inyaka Dam. The third suspect has not been arrested yet.
Capt Pottie Potgieter of the police’s diving unit still recalls the day the body was recovered near the dam wall, with concrete blocks tied to the feet.
Mulimi and Nyalungu’s court appearance earlier this week revealed that the latter appeared in court in connection with Shipalana’s murder that year, and never again. From there onward, there is no record of the case.
Mpumalanga Hawks spokesperson, Capt Dineo Sekgotodi, said the details as to how and why he was released from custody, are yet to be established. She added that Shipalana, who was an Eskom employee, had been Nyalungu’s neighbour. The murder allegedly followed a business deal that went south. “There most certainly wasn’t a lack of evidence,” she said.
On Monday, Nyalunga is scheduled to appear in the Mpumalanga High Court following his arrest in 2018.
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“The delay in the case comes after the investigation officer in the case, Lt Col Leroy Bruwer, was gunned down earlier this year. The case was handed over to a new investigating officer. We believe the High Court is not ready, thus the case is expected to be postponed in absentia,” she said, and added that more charges are likely to be added.
ALSO READ: Bruwer case bail application postponed yet again
