Trial of former lawyer accused of murder to continue in April

LIMPOPO – The murder trial against former Limpopo lawyer, Senyatsi Lucas Phasha will continue in April. This was confirmed by Mashudu Malabi- Dzhangi, Regional Spokesperson of the Directorate of Public Prosecution (DPP) after the accused appeared in the Limpopo High Court Polokwane division last week. 

Phasha is accused of killing his four children, Katlego (9), Joyce, (7) Tshepo (5) and Adel (3) at Ga-Phasha, Selatole village in February 2020.

“On Thursday, 18 March State Advocate Mashudu Mudau and Defence Lawyer, Advocate Lawrence Mkhize led a witness in trial within trial,” Malabi- Dzhangi said.

She explained that the witness told the court that the accused posted a message on Facebook admitting to the murder of his four children on the day of the murder. “The defence challenged the admissibility of the contents of Facebook page message as evidence. The court will give ruling on 25 March 2021 after both legal teams have filed their closing heads of arguments,” she added.

On the day of the murder, Phasha reportedly told a neighbour about the murders and pointed out the location of their bodies. Following his admission the police were notified and the bodies of all four children were located within a three kilometre radius. Three of the bodies were found in the nearby bushes.

The third body, that of the youngest child, was discovered near to a mountain. Three of children where found with stab wounds. The youngest was found with open wounds, according to police reports.

The accused was arrested the following day at Ga-Phasha village during a well coordinated operation that involved the provincial Tracking Team assisted by the local police. He faces four counts of murder and first appeared in court on 20 February.

In July he was denied bail and his case was transferred to the High Court in Polokwane.

The Phasha murder trial is set to continue between 12-16 April.