‘Girlfriend’ killer wants death penalty overturned

Adeath row inmate is persuading the Court of Appeal to overturn his death sentence, blaming provocation and intoxication as his motive for murder.

Moses Kanika was convicted and sentenced to death in November 2021 by Judge Lot Moroka of the Francistown High Court for murdering Wanani Tafila on January 16, 2016 in Selibe-Phikwe reportedly after years of a toxic relationship. Kanika, who appears before the bench today (Monday) and prays for the bench to temper justice with mercy, was reportedly no longer in a relationship with Tafila at the time the murder was committed as the later had ended things after enduring non-stop physical and emotional abuse.

In his grounds of appeal, he argues that the High Court ought to have found that there were extenuating circumstances because at the time of the commission of the offence of murder he was not in the right state of mind.

“It is not an excuse that I had consumed too much alcohol resulting in committing murder, but I believe the court should have found that there were extenuating circumstances at the time,” he said.

Kanika who is hoping for a reduced sentence said he had no intention of killing the deceased, but believes there were circumstances that made him lose his mind.

He submitted that he was provoked on that day as he saw his then girlfriend with another man despite having an understanding that they were still in a relationship.

Kanika argued that contrary to reports that he and Tafila where no longer together, they had mended their relationship and he assumed they were still together so seeing her with another man provoked him to act irrationally.

Despite leaning on argument that there were extenuating circumstances because of alcohol intoxication and provocation, Judge Lot Moroka had at the time sentenced him to death, saying consumption of alcohol should not be used as an excuse to commit heinous crimes.

The judge explained that his lawyer, Reneetswe Rabosotho, blaming intoxication gave rise to the already existing misconception that intoxication will always be held as an extenuating circumstance to escape accepting responsibility for what they did.

“There is growing misconception in the Judiciary especially from defence attorneys that intoxication absolves one from the responsibility and that it will always be viewed as an extenuating circumstance when sentencing,” Moroka said.

Justice Moroka at the time dismissed the argument of intoxication saying the convict did not seem drunk as alleged because he went to the deceased’s house with the intention of killing her and that after going through with it, he ran away when he saw people gathering.

Moroka said that evidence showed that Kanika was not drunk and he appeared to have still been in his mental capacity, especially that the two people who met him first with hands dripping of blood after stabbing the deceased told court that he showed no signs of intoxication.

On the provocation part, Moroka had stated he outrightly rejects any suggestion that the presence of another man should be viewed as an extenuating circumstance when committing a crime as big as murder. “The law should not reinforce that culture and certainly I will not entertain it,” said Moroka.

The judge concluded that even if Kanika saw the deceased with another man he had no business interfering as they were no longer together.

Meanwhile, according to the facts of the case on January 16, 2016 the deceased was preparing to go to work when Kanika barged into her house and proceeded to stab her despite the deceased’s screams and pleas for him to stop.

The evidence showed that Kanika stabbed her 12 times on the breast and chest amongst other parts. It was alleged that the relationship between the two was far from rosy as the deceased always complained of constant physical and emotional abuse.

The court was told by the deceased’s landlord that the pair ended up ending the love affair around November 2015 in her presence and that of the deceased’s parents.

But in the end it seems like the convict did not take no for an answer resulting in Tafila’s untimely death at his hands.

The bench will hear the case today and is expected to give judgment on February 24, 2024.