Double murder suspect claims self-defence

Date: 12 December 2014 By: Isabel Venter

The man accused of the double murder of Ms Darlene Mapula Madiba (34) and her friend Victor Mthokozisis Radebe (36) claims he had shot them in self-defence.

Vincent Teboho Moabelo has been in custody since his arrest in October this year, following the fatal shooting of Madiba and Radebe on 13 October. He finally broke his silence regarding the incident during the bail application that he lodged last Friday (6th) in the Louis Trichardt District Court.

Moabelo said he had phoned Madiba to arrange for him to go and pick up his belongings from her Louis Trichardt home in Duiker Street. They had shortly before ended their relationship. When he arrived at her home, claims Moabelo, Madiba was alone and Radebe arrived shortly afterwards. Radebe then started arguing with him and threatening him.

At that stage, Moabelo explained, he took out his pistol to protect himself from Radebe’s onslaught. A struggle ensued over the weapon, during which Radebe pulled the trigger and the shots hit Madiba, who was standing behind them. Moabelo said he managed to regain control of his weapon and shot Radebe before Radebe could shoot him.

When Radebe collapsed, Moabelo said he got frightened and fled the scene because he was afraid that the police would not believe his account of the incident. He said he was very confused and did not realize that he had fled the scene with Radebe’s vehicle.

Afterwards, Moabelo said, he phoned his uncle to take him to the police as he was afraid that the community would hunt him down and kill him for what he had done.

The State opposed Moabelo’s bail application. Records of Moabelo’s cellphone activity shortly after the murder were handed in as evidence. Four SMSes that Moabelo had sent shortly after the incident on his phone to friends and family were read in court.

The last SMS was to his mother: “Mommy I shot and killed Mapula and friend, I caught them right [sic] handed. Please, I don’t want to go to jail.”

Regional State Prosecutor Hilke Janse van Rensburg put it to Moabelo that he had not killed in self-defence as his actions after the shooting incident were not those of a confused person but of somebody in control. “Not in one of your messages did you tell the people that you had killed in self-defence,” said Janse van Rensburg.

Moabelo denied these allegations and kept on saying he was very confused at the time of the incident. 

His bail application was postponed until this Wednesday, but at the time of our going to press the court had yet to make a ruling. 

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Isabel Venter

Isabel joined the Zoutpansberger and Limpopo Mirror in 2009 as a reporter. She holds a BA Degree in Communication Sciences from the University of South Africa. Her beat is mainly crime and court reporting.

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