Triple murder accused linked by cellphone activity
CELLPHONE activity has linked the accused to the crime scenes where members of the Brand family – Danie, 83, his wife Breggie, 73, and their daughter Elzabé, 54 – were assaulted, abducted and murdered.
The three family members were taken from their smallholding in Magogong near Hartswater before they were killed and their bodies disposed of near Takaneng village on July 26, 2020.
The accused in the matter – Donald Seoleseng, 22, Tshepo Visagie, 38, Kgomotso Mpulwana, 45, and Tsepaone Melato, 21 – appeared in the Northern Cape High Court this week on charges of murder, robbery with aggravating circumstances, kidnapping and defeating the ends of justice.
Charges were withdrawn against Section 204 witness Realeboga Manyedi, 21.
Under cross-examination, SAPS cellphone analyst Captain Hanlie Conradie indicated that the cellphone towers picked up activity from the accused’s and the deceased’s handsets in the Motsweding, Motakaneng and Taung area before, during and after the crimes were committed.
She explained that a second cellphone number belonging to Elzabé’s phone was detected in the Stellenbosch area.
“There was no communication between that phone and the
phones of the accused.”
Conradie added that Seoleseng made a call from Elzabé’s cellphone with her SIM card on July 26, 2020 at 2.15pm.
“If you look at the calls made on his phone, it was one of the numbers that he dialled on his private cellphone as well. It was registered on the RICA system in
another individual’s name. The person to whom it was registered was not the user of the SIM card. We still don’t know who this number belongs to.”
Conradie believed that Seoleseng must have known the user of the number that was dialled on both Elzabe’s and his phone after the murders were committed.
She was not able to exclude the possibility that his co-accused were also in possession of the unidentified phone number.
Seoleseng’s legal representative Roelof van Wyk, indicated that it appeared as if his client’s phone was switched off, where there was a “lapse in activity” at some point.
“The accused said he bought the phone on a contract and that he experienced problems with the battery that did not function or did not make proper contact at that stage. So at certain times the phone did not function.”
Cellphone communication was also picked up from Visagie’s phone near the crime scene.
Numbers that were stored on his phone were also created on Elzabé’s phone.
The deceased’s cellphone was also used to contact State witness Realeboga Manyedi and a certain Kagisho Borali.
The legal representative for Visagie, advocate Khulani Biyela, indicated that his client “knew nothing” about the deceased’s cellphone.
“He said that he never touched it.”
The legal representative for Mpulwana, advocate Celeste Nameka, stated that her client did not know the owner of the cellphone that was brought to her to charge on July 26, 2020.
Images of Mpulwana were found on Elzabé’s phone
Nameka indicated that the photographs were taken by one of her foster children.
“She denies that the cellphone was in her possession.”
Dr Martelize Kruger, who examined Manyedi at Connie Vorster Hospital in Hartswater on July 28, 2020, stated that he had bruises on his back and his right triceps.
“The patient stated that he was assaulted by other prisoners in the holding cells at Hartswater police station. He said that he was hit with wet shoes.”
She added that the bruises were consistent with the sole of a shoe.
Nameka informed the court that another doctor at Connie Vorster Hospital had also examined Manyedi earlier that day.
Van Wyk added that Seoleseng denied jumping out of the vehicle and fleeing when he was stopped by the police on the Pudimoe road near Vryburg.
“Seoleseng and Melato were assaulted when they were arrested and said gunshots were fired at the time of their arrest.”
The legal representative for Melato, Arnold Nel, stated that his client was inside the vehicle at the time of his arrest.
“They were ordered to get out of the car and lie on the ground and a police dog was set on them. This is when he heard two shots fired. The police assaulted them and wanted to know where Tshepo Visagie was.”
Sergeant Ndubula from the Hartswater police station indicated that Seoleseng, who jumped out of the vehicle and fled, was the same accused who was bitten on the arm by a police dog.
He was unable to confirm whether any shots were fired at the time of the arrest of the accused and was not aware of any other accused who were allegedly assaulted or attacked by the police dog.