Hand grenade murder suspect due in court
The 44-year-old ex-uMkhonto weSizwe veteran who allegedly killed his 33-year-old wife by throwing hand grenades at her has reportedly handed himself over to police and will appear in court today.
Provincial police spokesperson Major Thulani Zwane said the suspect handed himself over to Amanzimtoti police on Wednesday at 6.30pm, South Coast Sun reported.
It is alleged the suspect and the deceased got home after a funeral on Saturday night and began arguing.
“The argument was over money that was placed somewhere and could not be found. The man then threatened the woman with a grenade,” said Amanzimtoti police communications officer Captain Charlene van der Spuy.
“She went to the kitchen to inform her brother-in-law about the threats. He saw the grenade in the man’s hand, and out of fear, ran out of the kitchen into another room.”
The man allegedly threw the grenade into the kitchen and closed the door, shutting the woman inside the kitchen. The grenade exploded and the woman was injured on the right side of her face and in the lower legs. The man fled the scene in his car, Van der Spuy said.
“The woman was rushed to Kingsway Hospital and declared dead at 2.45am. According to explosive experts who attended the scene, the grenade was of South African origin. A second live grenade, which did not detonate, was also found at the scene,” she said.
Van der Spuy said the suspect was accompanied by his advocate when handing himself over to police. He will appear in the Durban Magistrates` Court today facing charges of murder, attempted murder and possession of explosives.
SA National Defence Force spokesman Brigadier Xolani Mabanga said on Tuesday, that the SANDF were not conducting an investigation into how the man secured the two M26 hand grenades.
He said that once the police investigation had been completed and it had been confirmed that the grenades were indeed SANDF issue, it would then institute its own investigations.
“If the grenades are identified to be things that should be the inventory of the SANDF, then the SANDF will definitely investigate how did the member get in possession of those,” he said.
He said that ordinarily members of the SANDF were not allowed to bring ammunition or weapons home.
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– Caxton News Service
Read original story on southcoastsun.co.za
