Two sentenced to combined 99 years for torturing man to death

The Bloemfontein High Court has sentenced two men to a combined 99 years in prison for murder.

Itumeleng Lekgari was killed near Turflaagte in June 2021, with three men initially suspected of committing the crime.

Two of the accused were found guilty of murder, kidnapping and aggravated robbery, with a third dying a few months after his arrest.

Robbed of drugs and R50

The 28-year-old Lekgari was walking with a friend when the pair were attacked and forced into a home belonging to one of the accused.

There, the two victims were forced to undress before their attackers inflicted multiple stab wounds.

During the trial, the court heard how the victims were kept for several hours, forced under a couch and burnt with hot water, before being cut with homemade pangas.

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Lekgari was then strangled to death with a cellphone cable before his friend was made to place the corpse in a wheelbarrow.

Under the watch of one of the accused, the second victim wheeled Lekgari to a nearby church where police would find his body with a wire and red cloth wrapped around his neck.

The man was let go, but the accused kept the R50 and illegal substances that the victims were carrying.

Wheelbarrow links suspect

A preliminary investigation led detectives to the home of 30-year-old Thami Oliphant.

There, officers found a blood-stained wheelbarrow, with Oliphant saying the blood was that of a pig he had slaughtered the previous day.   

Free State police spokesperson Captain Loraine Earles confirmed that DNA samples were taken which would later link Oliphant to the crime, with his arrest being carried out in July 2023.

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A second suspect, 30-year-old Themba Fete fled soon after the crime but was arrested in October 2023.

Thabiso Elson was the third suspect, but he died in October 2023 shortly after his arrest.

Sentencing

After being found guilty, Oliphant was sentenced to a combined 99 years in prison.

Oliphant received 18 years for murder, 15 years for assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm (GBH) and three for kidnapping.

Fete received a life sentence for murder, 15 for assault GBH, 15 for aggravated robbery and five years for kidnapping.

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