David Shomolekae was sentenced to life imprisonment today in the Potchefstroom High Court for the murder of 16-year-old Lesley Makousa.
Judge David Makhobo sentenced the 31-year-old father of four to life imprisonment for murder, 15 years for robbery with aggravating circumstances and six years for housebreaking with intent to steal and theft. The last two sentences are to run concurrently with the life sentence.
The defence, Adv. Anneke Van Wyk applied for leave to appeal on the basis that there was no direct evidence and the state only relied on circumstantial evidence. She also argued that Shomolekae did not intend to kill Lesley. The state prosecutor, Adv. Lawrence More opposed leave to appeal and argued that this will overload the justice system with unnecessary work. He highlighted that the evidence was clear that Shomolekae did intend to kill Lesley. ‘The accused led the deceased to the bush, took out a shoelace and strangled him. Thereafter, he did not assist him and proceeded to steal his phone and house key. He then went to his home and stole the items to go and sell them.’
Judge Mahlobo dismissed the leave for appeal and stated that there was plenty of circumstantial evidence and the accused lied on the stand about what transpired.
Read next week’s Herald for a more detailed report about the shoelace murderer who had four previous convictions. Also, read about the family’s reaction to the sentence.
Also read: Guilty verdict for shoelace murderer
Teen’s alleged murderer claims he was a police informer
