Man guilty of cop killing
2008-09-10 18:39
Johannesburg - A 23-year-old man was found guilty by the Middelburg High Court on Wednesday of killing a police officer, Mpumalanga police said.
Judge Roger Lekgodi was expected to hand down Jasta Mtheni's sentence on September 25, said Captain Leonard Hlathi.
In 2005, Mhluzi police in Middelburg conducting a stop and search near the Malandule tavern had come across Mtheni and his girlfriend.
Police stopped him, but he ran away, said Hlathi.
"Mtheni tripped and fell on the ground. He got up, pulled out a pistol and fatally shot 43-year-old Sergeant Mlayedwa Skhosana. He managed to escape," said Hlathi.
Mtheni was arrested in January 2006, on his way to Swaziland.
The murder weapon was traced and recovered in Limpopo, where Mtheni had sold it to another man.
Judge Lekgodi commended the organised crime unit for a job well done and also the state witnesses for collaborating with each other without hesitation during the trial.
- SAPA