Monamodi guilty of gruesome murder of her wheelchair-bound mom
A woman found guilty of killing her disabled mother was described as a deceitful character by the South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg .
Yesterday, Lerato Monamodi, 33, was found guilty of assaulting and drowning her advocate mother Refiloe Rebecca Monamodi, 53, at their Kempton Park home in March last year.
Acting judge Ruby Matthys said Monamodi “had a deceitful character”. Her mother, whose body was found floating in their swimming pool, was disabled after a 2002 car crash and subsequently got a payout from the Road Accident Fund.
Witnesses including Monamodi’s son who was five at the time testified that his mother dragged his grandmother out of the house towards the swimming pool.
Monamodi who was paid by the RAF to be her mother’s caregiver, however, maintained that she was not at the house when the murder occurred.
Matthys found that it was highly impossible that a child who was five could concoct such evidence against his mother.
“I found [the child] was an excellent witness. He presented evidence so naturally and it was difficult to believe that he was coached into testifying in the graphic events if he did not experience same,” Matthys said. She said Monamodi adapted evidence as the proceedings progressed.
“She was not a candid witness and the