Boy watches dad appearing after killing
A 17-year-old teenager witnessed the murder of his sister and mother on Saturday. On Monday he was in court looking his father in the face.
A teenager cried when his police officer father appeared in court on Monday for allegedly killing two family members.
As the charges were being read, the tearful boy mumbled: “Justice must prevail.”
Warrant Officer Benedict Pelepeole (46) is accused of shooting dead his 42-year-old wife and 23-year-old daughter at the family home in Pretoria West on Saturday night.
The officer, a member of the police‘s VIP protection unit, was denied bail. He will be back in court on 21 September.
He was arrested by the Independent Police Investigative Directorate after he reported the shooting, spokesperson Grace Langa said.
The officer and his wife apparently had a disagreement earlier on Saturday.
Langa said Pelepeole then left home to attend to a cousin`s funeral.
“When he returned home in the evening, he is said to have asked his wife to cook for him. While she was cooking, he allegedly went to another room to fetch the firearm and then shot his wife and their daughter,” said Langa.
“He allegedly locked the pistol back in the safe and then took his 17-year-old son and his cousin to neighbours. The officer then asked the neighbour to drive him to a police station for killing his wife and child.”
Langa said the 17-year-old son witnessed the murder and was extremely traumatised.
“At this stage we’re looking for a psychologist who can attend to the boy. He is so traumatised, he needs help. He is our focus now.”
Langa said the teenager was now in the care of other family members.
“We have a number of witnesses. He’ll obviously be one of the key witnesses as he was there. A cousin was also there. The police officer even admitted that he’d done this.”
Langa said she could not comment on the psychological condition of the officer.
The officer’s legal representative was not at court on Monday.
Also read:
Police officer kills wife and child
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