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Body parts in fridge: ‘I couldn’t forgive her for cheating on me,’ Soweto man tells court
Flavio Hlabangwane pleaded guilty to premeditated murder and admitted to dismembering his girlfriend.
Picture: iStock
Murder accused Flavio Hlabangwane has pleaded guilty to premeditated murder after dishing out the gruesome details of how he killed his girlfriend, Tshepang Pitse.
Hlabangwane’s murder trial resumed at the Johannesburg High Court sitting in the Palm Ridge Magistrate’s Court on Thursday, where he made a confession earlier this week.
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The 28-year-old man had been charged with murder, defeating or obstructing the administration of justice, and violation of a corpse.
He was arrested in November 2021 after Pitse’s body parts were found in his fridge in Soweto.
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‘Angry and bitter’
During court proceedings on Friday, Hlabangwane’s lawyer, Attorney Tsakane Ndhlovu, read out his admission to before Judge Cassim Ismail Moosa.
The accused’s statement gave details about how he had considered and planned to murder Pitse.
“In September 2021, I specifically remember the date, I found out the deceased was cheating on me. We tried to resolve the relationship, but I couldn’t forgive her I told her it’s best we break up.
“I did not feel I could proceed with the relationship afterwards I had found out, but she wanted us to try fix our relationship. I was very angry and bitter towards her,” the admission reads.
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Hlabangwane, who was referred for psychiatric evaluation at Sterkfontein Hospital, said he searched the internet for ways to kill Pitse, and also for “the quickest ways to dispose of the corpse” between September and October.
“It was also at this time that I got more active on a dating site, where one can meet people who are looking for a relationship. I ultimately met a person by the name of Funanani through the dating site,” he continued.
He also stated that he and Pitse were not speaking much at this point because “she stayed with her father for a period until we agreed to meet at the house we used to stay at”.
The accused conceded that he killed Pitse the same day the couple fought over a bank card.
“On 6 October, the deceased and I met at the house, we sat and spoke. I then left, taking her bank card to go to buy food without asking her first. When I came back, the deceased confronted me about this and this started an argument between us which at the time created an opportunity for me to kill her as planned.”
He further explained that he had intended to dispose of Pitse’s legs and arms “in different places and at different times”.
“After I had killed and dismembered the deceased in the house, I could not sleep in the house alone, that is the reason why I started bringing women into the house. One of the women that I had brought to the house found the deceased’s dismembered arms and legs in the freezer and alerted the community.”
No plea deal
Speaking to eNCA after the case was postponed, National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) Gauteng spokesperson Phindi Mjonondwane said there was no plea deal between the state and Hlabangwane.
“We welcome the attitude of the accused person coming to court and alleviating the pressure of proving our case beyond reasonable doubt.
“There was no plea bargaining, but instead he pleaded guilty and thereafter made admissions in terms of Section 220 of the Criminal Procedure Act,” she said.
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Mjonondwane confirmed that the state would now close the case and prepare for arguments before the court next week.
“The law prescribes that the person be sentenced to life imprisonment unless there are substantial and compelling circumstances for the court to deviate. So now our duty as the state to convince that there are no substantial and compelling circumstances.
“However, it is now in the hands of the court and will have to take into consideration of the seriousness of the offence, the interests of justice as well as that of society and the personal circumstances of the accused person in handing out a sentence that is adjust.”
