A 34-year-old man, Walekgotla Monnawakgama, is on trial at the Gaborone High Court for the 2011 murder of Naledi Hisang (26) and her daughter Motlalepula Hisang (15 months) at Kaduwe cattlepost near Jwaneng.
It is said that the man suspected that her lover was cheating on him.
A former Police officer who investigated the incident, Boiki Leungonyane, told Justice Michael Leburu that upon arrival at the scene of the crime, they found the two deceased persons hanging from different trees, but the accused person was nowhere to be seen.
They also learned that the accused had tried to use a horse to escape but changed his mind.
Leungonyane who is now employed at the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crimes (DCEC)as Anti-Corruption officer, told the court that with the assistance of the police air arm, they managed to apprehend the accused person and upon searching him they found a note which was addressed to his former employer, a certain Mr Dipate.
He added that the accused person had planned to take his own life after the double murder. “In the note, the accused person told Mr Dipate why he killed the two people. We also found a rope which matched the one used to hang the accused persons,” said the witness.
A Forensic Pathologist, Dr Mungoma, said that he examined the two bodies and found that the deceased died from asphyxia due to strangulation.
He said that the postmortem results for both internal and external examination were consistent with injuries occurring from hanging or strangulation.
However, the Defence lawyer cast doubt at the pathologist’s experience due to the fact that he had only one year experience in practice when he conducted the postmortem in 2011.
Dr Mungoma said his training in Russia exposed him to over 200 postmortem examinations before his graduation, and therefore, he was doing something he already knew about.
The matter was postponed to a later date when the State will be calling more witnesses.
