MONTCLAIR detectives secured a 23 year conviction for the 2015 murder of a Port Shepstone man who was found with his throat slit under the South Coast Road bridge on 8 November.
A year after the murder, Montclair detectives made a breakthrough when four men were arrested.
The police tracked down the family of the deceased to identify him. The four men who were arrested, thanks to an informant, were charged and appeared in Durban Regional Court.
The men were unsuccessful in their bail application which was opposed by Montclair detectiveThe Director of Public Prosecutions perused the case docket and was satisfied that the case should be heard in the Durban High Court.
As the case progressed it was found two of the men arrested were not involved but were witnesses. They became state witnesses and described in detail how the murder played out. “It was revealed the murderers accused the victim of stealing goats in the rural area and punished him by assaulting and torturing him, which led to his untimely death,” said W/O Naidoo.
The trial concluded in the Durban High Court on 16 February. Both suspects, Busiso Khuzwayo and Mthembiseni Cele, were found guilty of murder and of being in possession of unlicensed firearm and ammunition.
The judge stated that the state witnesses were consistent throughout the trial and did not contradict each other. The investigations and evidence made it easy for him to come to the conclusion that the suspects were guilty.
Sentencing was handed down on Tuesday, 28 February. Cele and Khuzwayo each received 20 years’ imprisonment for murder, six years for possession of an unlicensed firearm and 12 months for possession of unlicensed ammunition.
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