Expected to hand down sentence to the convicted killer, a KZN judge did an about-turn and inspected the crime scene.
|||Durban - Expected to hand down sentence in a double-murder case on Monday, Durban High Court Acting Judge Kessie Naidu did an about-turn and inspected the scene where the crimes had taken place in Avoca Hills.
Inspections of scenes in criminal cases do not occur frequently, especially not at such a late stage.
In the dock is Zwelihle Gumede, convicted of killing his cousin Sbahle Buthelezi and Buthelezi’s fiancée Noluthando Zakwe, in April last year.
The men got into a fight about money outside Zakwe’s home after Gumede claimed Buthelezi had stolen thousands from him. Gumede then shot Buthelezi and Zakwe, who had come out of her home. Zakwe, who was eight months pregnant, tried to escape, but she was shot again and she died.
The State relied on a confession Gumede had made to police and the testimony of a forensic pathologist.
Last week, Judge Naidu found Gumede guilty of both murders and the unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition.
He said on Monday he needed to hold an inspection of the scene as the court was still in the dark about the circumstances of the shootings.
“Much of the debate around the circumstances of the deaths relate to assumptions, conjecture and speculation.”
During the inspection, Constable Siyabonga Mtshali, who had compiled a photo album of the crime scene, pointed out where the two bodies had been found. Gumede, who was handcuffed, showed no emotion as the judge, defence and State did a walk-through of the crime scene.
In court, Judge Naidu questioned Gumede’s attorney, M Ntshangase, about whether Zakwe had been shot simply to silence her.
“It appears from the inspection that she was running from Gumede when she was shot. It also appears that she was shot, she fell and he put the gun to her head and killed her.
“If that was the case then the minimum sentencing is life imprisonment as she would have been a witness.”
Ntshangase replied that Gumede should not be jailed for life as he had wanted to come clean from an early stage.
“All the evidence before this court is because of the accused. We ask the court to consider this and deviate from a life sentence.”
Judge Naidu said he would hand down sentence on Friday.
“I am aware that cases like this need to be disposed of expeditiously so that the anxiety of the family of the deceased and the accused is not prolonged. But I need to consider the matter with care and circumspection in order to be fair to the accused and the community.” - The Mercury