Hlanganani Mpulo (24) will never see the outside of a jail cell again, after being convicted of a horrific double murder.
In the early hours of May 6, 2012, Mpulo broke into a house in Retief Street in Bergville. In the house at the time were three people: the resident, a visitor and a 3-year-old baby boy. The resident’s husband, a businessman, was overseas at the time.
The intruder helped himself to a cell-phone and woke up the resident, demanding cash from her. When she couldn’t give him any cash, he took a kitchen knife and stabbed her several times, still insisting that he wanted money.
The resident lay seriously injured and during the commotion, the baby and the visitor awoke. The baby began to cry, so Mpulo instructed the visitor to quieten the child. As the frantic mother (27-year-old Zanele Xulu) tried to quieten the child, he slit her throat, killing her. The cries of the child obviously irritated him and fearing that the wailing would draw too much attention, Mpulo stabbed baby boy Abubakr Xulu in the chest and tummy before slitting his throat. He then again turned on the only survivor, the resident. The badly-injured woman managed to fight back and pushed Mpulo up against a wall, where the knife fell out of his hand in the scuffle. She managed to get a hold of the knife and stabbed him in the forehead.
Suddenly finding himself disarmed, he fled the scene.
Bergville Detective Services was tasked with the investigation and Sergeant PS Ngcobo was handed the case. The survivor was able to provide a very good description of the suspect, and detectives immediately got down to the business of tracing the suspect and following every possible lead.
A short while later, a burglary was committed on a farm in the area. During the incident, three firearms, among other items, were stolen. While working on the evidence collected from the housebreaking scene, a breakthrough was made in the murder case. The local AFIS (Automated Fingerprint Identification System) expert, Warrant Officer SS Domun, identified the housebreaker by means of fingerprints found at the housebreaking scene. The investigating officer now had a name and a possible address to work from.
A raid conducted by Bergville detectives netted the suspect, who was caught unawares at a house in the Potshini area of Emmaus. The three stolen firearms taken during the burglary were recovered.
While arresting the suspect, police took note of a cut on his eye. He fitted the description given to them by the survivor of the double murder. After comparing his palm print to partial palm prints found at the murder scene, a match was found and the suspect was charged for the murders.
The suspect stood trial on December 5, 2012, in the Bergville Regional Court, where he pleaded guilty to the charges of housebreaking, and possession of illegal firearms and ammunition. He was sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment for these crimes.
The murder trial was concluded on Friday, November 21, in the Madadeni High Court when (on the last day of the trial) the accused confessed to the killings. Judge Radebe found the accused guilty and he was sentenced to two terms of life imprisonment, one for each of the lives he took. He was also handed down 8 years’ imprisonment for the attempt on the life of the survivor.
