Thohoyandou man kills three before turning the gun on himself
Police launched a manhunt for the suspect which resulted in the discovery of his body in a bush near Lwamondo-Mapate village.
LIMPOPO – The mood is somber in the rural village of Mbilwi, better known as Thohoyandou Block Q near Sibasa, where a man shot and killed another man and his partner before fleeing the scene on the night of March 23.
The deceased was identified as Patricia Manavhela (48) and her partner Simon Ramutsindela (49) and police said that the motive of the incident is still unknown, but a love triangle cannot be ruled out.
Limpopo police spokesperson Brig Motlafela Mojapelo said that preliminary investigations indicated that the suspect entered the premises, shot the victims and fled the scene in a car. Two cases of murder were then opened.
Later Mojapelo said the police are investigating three cases of murder and has opened an inquest docket following two separate incidents during which the suspect, attacked his neighbour, aged 80 in Lwamondo-Mutandani, outside Thohoyandou by strangling him to death and taking his firearm and car.
The suspect thereafter proceeded to Thohoyandou Block Q where he shot and killed a man and his partner before fleeing the scene.
He said the local police in Thohoyandou received a report at about 20:40 last Thursday that there was a shooting incident at a house situated next to the Baptist Church in Sibasa. Upon arrival they found the bodies of a male and a female with gunshots.
On the other hand, the police in Vuwani were on the morning of March 24, summoned to a house in which the 80-year-old man was found dead in the passage of his house at Lwamondo village. His firearm was stolen and his car was also missing. He was identified as Ngodiseni Samuel Shavhani. Cases of murder and house robbery were then opened.
He added that, the investigations of the two separate incidents were then co-ordinated and it soon came to light that the suspect was in fact the same person identified as Thinandavha Bravo Mulaudzi residing in Lwamondo village.
Mojapelo further said police launched a manhunt for the suspect and resulted in the discovery of his body found in the bush of Lwamondo-Mapate village. The firearm and car belonging to the 80-year-old deceased, were also recovered
Family spokesperson for the Manavhela family, Azwidowi Manavhela, said the family was still saddened by the incident that left the family members traumatised and reeling with shock.
Manavhela said the funeral service for Simon Ramutsindela will be on April 1 and Patricia Manavhela will be buried on the after at Lwamondo.
