A police sergeant accused of hiring hitmen to kill her estranged husband and his pregnant girlfriend was again remanded in custody.

Detective Sergeant Nyiko Jacobeth Nyathi (42) appeared in the Mapulaneng Magistrate’s Court on Monday, May 19.

She was remanded in custody pending her next court appearance on Wednesday, May 28, where her partially heard bail application is expected to continue.

Nyathi, who is attached to the Bushbuckridge Police Station, handed herself over to her colleagues on Monday, March 10, after detectives from the provincial police headquarters in Mbombela failed to arrest her on Friday, March 7.

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The officers went to her workplace and her home, but Nyathi was nowhere to be found.

The SABC’s Morning Live Breakfast Show had prematurely announced her looming arrest earlier that morning, alerting her and sending her into hiding.

After spending the weekend a free woman, Nyathi handed herself over on Monday, March 10 and has been behind bars since.

She previously submitted an application for the presiding magistrate, Tanya du Preez, to recuse herself and be replaced by what she called a neutral one.

“The magistrate is the wife of the accused’s former commander and it is for this reason that we applied that she recuses herself from the case, but she has since refused to do so,” said Nyathi’s lawyer, Adv Vusi Segodi.

Segodi said there was a possibility that the magistrate might discuss the case with her husband and, therefore, have biases regarding the details.

The application for the magistrate to recuse herself was denied. “There is just no way that the accused can have a fair trial under the circumstances,” warned Sekgodi.

A group of armed men attacked Mashego at his home in Boikhotso near Bushbuckridge on the night of February 5, 2024.

They demanded his bank card, but he told them it was with Lebjane, who lived in Zoeknog a few kilometres away.

They then demanded money and cellphones, before forcing Mashego to phone Lebjane to make arrangements to collect the bank card.

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His attackers then took his two cars and drove to his girlfriend’s house with him.

“Upon arrival at Lebjane’s residence, the perpetrators ordered Mashego to knock on the door. He quickly entered the house and closed the door again, but his attackers allegedly shot through it, killing the couple,” said the National Prosecuting Authority’s regional spokesperson, Monica Nyuswa.

The perpetrators ransacked the house and searched the couple, allegedly stealing R4 000 in cash as well as Mashego’s bank card.

Investigations led to the arrest of four suspects, including Witness Monareng (28), who has since pleaded guilty after his fingerprints were found at the crime scene.

He was sentenced to 77 years behind bars for premeditated murder, armed robbery, theft and kidnapping.

The trial against the other accused, Themba Mokoena, Thabang Malumane and Thabiso Malope, is still ongoing.