*Murder suspect arrested after 15 years on the run
*Busted after returning home for mum’s burial
Having successfully evaded the police for over 15 years, a suspected killer’s luck ran out last week when he returned home for his mother’s funeral and was arrested while helping dig her grave.
The 40-year-old fugitive, Mawillard Gwafila was wanted in connection with the August 2009 murder of Zimbabwean national, Peace Nyuni, who was stabbed to death at Satellite shops in Francistown.
The finger of suspicion pointed at Gwafila as well as two other men, Mosimanegape Tuna Mohlohlwa and Oupa Thuso Solomon, aged 22 and 24 at the time.
The trio were arrested and charged with murder.
Within a year they were released on bail awaiting trial, at which point Gwafila did a vanishing act, going on the run.
With the Moroka man nowhere to be found, the case continued.
On 14 May 2013, Solomon was acquitted, with Francistown High Court finding him not guilty.
Mohlohlwa, meanwhile, saw the charge against him reduced to
assault occasioning bodily harm, for which he served a year in the slammer.
For years, it appeared that would be the incomplete end of the matter, until Gwafila resurfaced last Friday, lured out of hiding by his mother’s death.
In the end, he missed both the late night vigil and the burial, stewing in a police cell following his dramatic arrest at the graveyard.
Hauled before Francistown Magistrates Court for re-arraignment on Tuesday, the grieving suspect cut a sorry figure, weeping bitterly throughout the proceedings.
“After digging my mother’s grave I saw the soldiers coming to arrest me. I was not given a chance to bury her and I do not know where my two kids are as I just left them there,” sobbed Gwafila, adding he had been living with his children in the border village of Phitshane.
“I am not sure if my aunt took them. The other one lost her mother last year,” continued the sniveling suspect, using his hands and overall top to wipe away his tears.
Gwafila maintained he had not been hiding from the cops, claiming to be in constant contact with the police.
“The reason why I had not been coming to court is that I have been communicating with the Investigating Officer and he told me he does not know what was going on with the case,” he stated, adding he was terrified the company he worked for in Phitshane would fire him if they got wind that he was attending court for a murder case.
Although emotional, considering his history, the sob story was never likely to win his freedom.
And so it proved, with the Magistrate remanding him in custody until the matter is committed to the High Court.
It is alleged that the trouble started on the fateful night in Ghetto 17 years ago, when Mohlohlwa confronted Nyuni and another man for walking between him and his girlfriend.
Nyuni reportedly responded that he didn’t understand Setswana well and had no idea what was being said to him.
This infuriated Mohlolhwa, who attacked the Zimbabwean with bricks and bottles, injuring him.
It was at this point that Gwafila, who was only 26 at the time, allegedly arrived on the scene, where Mohlohlwa informed him he was being harassed by the other man.
He reportedly reacted by brandishing a knife and stabbing Nyuni to death.
While waiting for the police van following Tuesday’s court appearance, Gwafila maintained he acted in self-defence.
Meanwhile, Nyuni’s body was kept at the morgue for two months.
The slain man was finally buried on 23 October 2009 at Gerald Estates cemetery after his family requested assistance from the Botswana government due to lack of funds for repatriation.
