Johannesburg - The story of a mutilated body, incestuous marriage and abuse has come to a bitter end after the High Court in Palm Ridge found Flavio Hlabangwane guilty of premeditated murder, mutilating a corpse and obstructing the ends of justice.
It’s been over a year since Hlabangwane killed his wife, Tshepang Pitse, who was also his cousin.
The murder shocked Soweto and was one of the most mysterious crime cases of 2021.
The matter was handed over to a division of people specialising in ritual killings, but Hlabangwane later confessed in court that he had killed Tshepang after an argument over a bank card and suspicions of infidelity.
Hlabangwane was arrested in Protea Glen after his wife’s body was discovered by a girlfriend who had come to sleep over at Hlabangwane’s back room. She was looking for food in the fridge when she found human body parts.
After a short trial and a number of attempts by Hlabangwane to kill himself, Judge Cassim Ismail Moosa found him guilty of premeditated murder, obstructing the ends of justice, and mutilating a corpse.
“The accused has admitted all the necessary elements of defeating and obstructing the ends of justice, as well as the accused has admitted all the necessary elements of sustaining a conviction on count number 3, violating a corpse. Accordingly, in the circumstances, I find the accused guilty as follows: in respect of count number 1, the accused is guilty of murder read together with the provisions of Section 51, subsection one, of the criminal amendment act 105 of 1997; in respect of count number 2, the court finds you guilty of defeating or obstructing the course of justice; and in respect of count 3, you are found guilty of violating a corpse,“ the judge said.
The Star understands that Tshepang’s family has been divided by the grim murder and the marriage between Hlabangwane and his cousin Tshepang. Throughout the trial, most of the family members did not attend, but a lawyer for Tshepang’s father, Reitumetse Senaoana, said the family was satisfied with the verdict but was left in the dark concerning the location of the other body parts that had not been found.
“You must understand that the family has been asking for justice, and we saw justice today in real time. The question still remains for the family as to the rest of the remains,” Senaoana said.
Senaoana said Tshepang’s father, Walter Pitse, was unable to attend the proceedings because he could not emotionally cope with being in court. Senaoana said the family had no choice but to accept Hlabangwane’s confession that he had killed Tshepang because she was cheating on him.
“The evidence that was given in court was given voluntarily. It does not speak to the roots of the elements as far as the crime is defined in our law,” he said.
Hlabangwane broke down and cried as his judgment was being handed down. This was the first time that he had shown sorrow since the beginning of the trial.
The Star