Love triangle’s bloody end

OUCH: The wounded suspect

An apparent love triangle ended in a bloody knife-fight in the wee hours of Wednesday, when one of the men involved turned up late at night to find his girlfriend in bed with another man.

The tragic episode played out on 19 April at around 0200hrs at Tlhaping ward, Metsibotlhoko village in Kweneng West.

The suspect, 37-year-old Thapelo Mmonoko, is accused of inadvertently killing his love rival, Lesego Moatshing, 30, allegedly stabbing the younger man in the abdomen after being stabbed in the head himself.

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Sporting a nasty-looking gash atop his head, Mmonoko appeared before Molepolole Magistrates Court on Tuesday charged with murder.

It is alleged that in the build-up to the fatal fallout, Mmonoko was drinking traditional beer with his girlfriend, Itireleng Gaenne, 35, at her sister’s place.

Afterwards, the couple retired to sleep at Gaenne’s house, which is situated in her mother’s yard.

Sources say Moatshing turned up hours later, calling for Gaenne to let him in. When she didn’t respond, he managed to gain entry into the house through a window that doesn’t close properly.

“Later, when the woman realised she now had two boyfriends in the same room, she escaped to her mother’s house, which is in the same yard. Mmonoko followed her, and hide himself inside the kitchen. When Moatshing was still searching for Gaenne inside the dark room, she fled to the back of the yard and Mmonoko also followed her,” explained a source.

Butt naked but desperate to leave for his own home, Mmonoko seemingly snuck back to Gaenne’s house to retrieve his clothes.

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Although he managed to scramble his belongings together, it seems disaster struck while he was trying to get dressed quietly in the toilet.

Moatshing reportedly attacked, allegedly hacking at the other man’s head with a knife.

Mmonoko is said to have retaliated by grabbing a knife from his trouser pocket and plunging it into his attacker, who collapsed instantly.

Hearing the commotion, neighbours turned up but their attempts to help by wrapping up the heavily-bleeding Moatshing’s injuries were in vain. It is believed he died on the spot.

Mmonoko was arrested the same day and admitted at Scottish Livingstone Hospital, where he was stitched-up and kept under observation, the cops closely monitoring everything.

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During his brief arraignment this week, the Maratswane man was remanded in custody, his next mention set for 16 May.

Meanwhile, Moatshing’s corpse remains at the mortuary awaiting post-mortem.

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