Case against Tshwane double-murder accused postponed to May

The trial of a young Pretoria woman and the two men she allegedly convinced to kill her mother and stepfather has been delayed.

Judge Eben Jordaan on Monday provisionally postponed the trial of Bonolo Gwendolene Lekalakala, 19, her boyfriend Raymond Molokomme, 25, and Nicholas Rapelego, 25, until May 2 for the accused to sort out their legal representation.

Lekalakala appointed her own legal representative shortly before the trial was due to commence in the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria and Rapelego also indicated he wanted to pay for his own legal representative.

Lekalakala initially said her father would pay for a private representative, but on Monday told the court he could not afford the fees and she now wanted legal aid.

Lekalakala and the two men are accused of murdering her mother, Eva Mokotsi Beetge, 49, and stepfather, Piet Beetge, 59, at their Capital Park home in Pretoria, on December 26, 2015, and robbing them of their car and other goods.

The state alleges that Lekalakala and her boyfriend had conspired to kill her mother and stepfather and had obtained Rapelego’s assistance.

On the night of December 26, Lekalakala allegedly went home on the pretext that she wanted to apologise to her mother for an argument. She then allegedly tried to poison her stepfather with Blue Death insect poison by putting it in his drink.

After Eva Beetge went to sleep, her daughter allegedly let her two co-accused into the house, where they allegedly attacked Eva Beetge in the living room, strangling her.

All three accused then allegedly went to Piet Beetge’s bedroom where they attacked him with a brick and strangled him. The bodies were then allegedly loaded into their car and dumped in the Hennopspruit.

Lekalakala and her boyfriend then allegedly took her mother’s ATM card and withdrew R500. Two cellphones, a digital camera, laptop and other items were allegedly also removed from the house.

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