Teacher intended to kill hubby for estate - cop
MBABANE – Police say the teacher who allegedly hired four men to rob her husband, intended to kill him in order to use funds from his estate to pay her debts amounting to over E30 000.
The investigating officer said Winile Taurus Antones was up to her neck in debts and allegedly plotted to kill her husband and use her inheritance to settle the debts.
In papers filed by the Crown to oppose the application for bail that has been filed by the teacher, Antones, the investigating officer described the robbery of Bhekumusa Dube as a murder gone horribly wrong.
Antones (37) of Timbutini, who is a teacher at Emvimbeko High School, was arrested for allegedly conspiring with her cousin and two others, in the hacking of Dube on the head with a bush knife and further kicking and slapping him with open hands. They also have been accused of robbing him of his white Chevrolet Corsa LDV registered BSD 426 BH, valued at E51 000 and his two cellphones worth E1 900.
Incident
The incident happed at Lwandle in the Manzini Region on June 5, 2022. Dube and Antones are said to have separated and the teacher resides at her parental home at Lwandle.
Antones was arrested together with Siphamandla Ndzinisa (24), Sandile Ndzinisa (29), both of Lwandle, and Bongumusa Masina (28) of Thulwane.
Antones, who is pregnant, filed an application for bail at the High Court. Among her reasons to seek to be granted bail, the teacher told the court that she was almost due to give birth.
The Crown has filed papers to oppose her release from custody. The investigating officer, Detective Sergeant Absalom Dlamini, who is based in the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) at Sidvokodvo Police Station, said the evidence at their disposal showed that Antones was the one who orchestrated the commission of the offence.
Dlamini informed the court that Antones allegedly engaged the other accused persons to assist her in carrying out the murder of her husband. He stated that Antones wanted Dube to die so that she would use her inheritance to settle her debts.
The evidence in the possession of the police, according to Dlamini, suggests that Antones owed three people amounts including E17 000, E8 000 and E5 000 adding up to E30 000. These amounts, according to the investigator, exclude interest on the debts.
Investigations
“We gathered through the investigations that the plan was to eliminate the complainant (Dube) so that money from his estate could be used to settle the debts. In fact, it was supposed to be murder as she wanted her husband dead so that she used the inheritance monies to settle her debts as she is heavily in debts. The robbery charge was a result of a murder plot gone wrong,” Dlamini said.
He informed the court that there was evidence implicating Antones in the commission of the offence. He submitted that they had evidence suggesting that she allegedly wanted her husband dead because the two reportedly had serious domestic issues and adding to the domestic issues was Antones’s debts.
The investigator alleged that there was also evidence to the effect that Antones ‘orchestrated the whole thing and was seen picking up her co-accused in her car after the commission of this offence’.
“I submit further that our investigations revealed that accused two and three (Siphamandla and Sandile) are related to the applicant, hence her release on bail may endanger her life as the other relatives are outraged by the applicant’s action and this may result in them taking the law into their own hands,” the investigator added. Dlamini said it would not be in the interest of justice to grant her bail.