Defence says one murder charge can’t be modus operandi as ‘insurance fraud killer’ sobs in court

Tears rolled down the face of alleged insurance fraud killer Agnes Segomotsi Setshwantsho as her lawyer pleaded for her release on bail.

Her bail application continued before the Molopo Magistrate’s Court in North West on Friday, with the state and defence presenting their closing arguments.

Setshwantsho is accused of murdering her family members for insurance payouts.

The suspect, who was arrested in November 2023, is facing a charge of murder, defeating the ends of justice and two counts of fraud.

Medical condition

Throughout the bail proceedings, Setshwantsho’s lawyer, Nhlanhla Mahlangu, argued for his client’s release from the Mahikeng Correctional Centre.

Mahlangu told the court last year that Setshwantsho remaining in custody would affect her health as she was suffering from a chronic condition. The accused has high cholesterol and type 2 diabetes.

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Her legal team previously claimed that officials at the prison were not providing her with insulin, but a state witness has denied this.

Keneilwe Senokwane, who is a clinical nurse practitioner at the prison, testified this week that Setshwantsho was responding well to her medication.

Senokwane also informed the court that the suspect’s insulin was being stored in a cool place.

Modus operandi

On Friday, Mahlangu argued that investigating officer, Keshi Mabunda, “overstated the truth” and “sensationalised” his testimony previously heard in court.

Mabunda revealed in evidence-in-chief that Setshwantsho was the beneficiary of at least 40 separate insurance policies through members of her extended family.

According to the investigator, the accused allegedly insured her relatives fraudulently so she could later benefit from their deaths.

He told the court that Setshwantsho was a flight risk and would tamper with evidence if she got bail.

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However, Mahlangu told the court that Mabunda failed to dispute the fact that his client ran a funeral and burial scheme through her own funeral parlour, which has since shut down.

“What his operation do not come around to is the realisation that when you run this burial scheme and when you take these policies your name will appear as the founder [or] main member of those policies. These policies incidentally date back many years ago, but we are sitting with only one murder charge [and] yet it is called a modus operandi.

“Since when does one incident qualify to be a modus operandi. The detective does not even tell whether the accused before court is still paying for these many funeral policies or whether they are still active or not,” he said.

The defence lawyer suggested that Mabunda evaded questions in some instances during his cross-examination by saying investigations were still ongoing.

“Now if you are still investigating why does he speak like it’s a matter of fact that, that is the actual position,” Mahlangu argued.

Mahlangu also said there were “exceptional circumstances” that Setshwantsho, who intends to plead not guilty during the trial, should be released on bail.

“The courts have said that it is difficult to describe what exceptional circumstances are [and] that’s why I was interested to learn what detective Mabunda classifies as exceptional circumstances because he insisted that what we said was not exceptional that where the interest of justice permits the release of an accused persons on bail, this court is inclined to grant bail,” the defence lawyer continued.

He highlighted that the interest of justice principle did not operate in favour of the state only.

“It is the inevitable task of this honourable court to strike that balance.”

Mahlangu argued that the police broke the law by failing to provide the accused with her medication following her arrest.

The defence lawyer further said his client was not a flight risk. At one point, Setshwantsho was seen sobbing in the dock.

Insurance fraud

Setshwantsho was charged in connection to the death of her niece, Bonolo Modiseemang.

Investigations revealed that Modiseemang died due to poisoning.

Her death had initially been declared as a result of “natural causes”, but was later found that Setshwantsho allegedly “colluded with a medical practitioner”.

The victim fell ill after eating a sandwich allegedly given to her by the accused in August 2022.

It has been alleged that the accused fraudulently took out a R3 million life policy on Modiseemang six months before her passing.

The South African Police Service (Saps) is also investigating Setshwantsho for the mysterious deaths of her husband, two daughters, son and brother.

Her son died in July last year, while her spouse passed on in 2016 and her daughters in 2015 and 2005.

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