Johannesburg - A 37-year-old killer of a multi-talented Limpopo artist has been sentenced to life imprisonment.
Nigerian national, Onyeghani Ekene Dumkele, who murdered a multi-talented up-and-coming Limpopo artist, Shaun Douglas Chabalala, 23, has been handed down a life sentence shortly after he was convicted.
The Pretoria Magistrate’s Court also sentenced Dumkele to an additional 15 years imprisonment for aggravated robbery, plus a twelve-month suspended sentence on the condition that he be deported to his native country after he completes his concurrent sentence for murder and aggravated robbery.
SAPS spokesperson, Captain Daniel Mavimbela said Chabalala and his friend, Given Mzamane, were lured to the Tambotie block of flats in Sunnyside, east of Pretoria, in May 2018 through a fake advertisement for a luxury camera.
He said the pair had gone there to buy the camera, and they were carrying a cash amount of R14 000 on them, only to be led into an ambush inside an apartment where Dumkele lived on the seventh floor.
"Upon entering the apartment, the victims were attacked by a group of men, and Chabalala succumbed to injuries and was declared dead on the scene.
"Mzamane testified that he forced his way out of the door and managed to escape, however, it was not before he had witnessed two men, who had participated in the robbery and attack on himself and Chabalala, lift Chabalala and throw him out of the window from the same apartment,“ he said.
Mavimbela said Dumkele was arrested almost 15 months after the murder by Sunnyside police detective, Captain Simon Motolla, who had decided to abandon a wedding celebration that he had attended in Mpumalanga after he was tipped off on the whereabouts of the accused.
"Dumkele was sniffed out from the ceiling inside a house in Pretoria West by a police dog, following the enlistment of the services of a K-9 Unit.
He blamed the murder on his missing co-accused and fellow countryman, Obienna Ofoegbuliwe, who has since absconded after he was granted bail of R3 000 after his arrest.
"That testimony was rejected by the court since he knew that, among others, the police had been searching for him, had not disclosed the identity of the killer prior to his arrest, and was easily pointed out by Mzamane during the identification parade," said Mavimbela.
He added that Dumkele's sentence has since been applauded by Sunnyside police commander Brigadier Matshidiso Kgoadi, who also commended the team of investigators and the prosecutor who worked towards securing the conviction of the accused.
The Star