Byline: Thendo Funyufunyu
Tuesday, 18 April 2023
Nosipho Caroline Mthombeni, a 34-year-old woman, was brutally murdered and her severely decomposed body was discovered hidden in a ceiling six months ago.
A through police investigation into the case resulted in a successful conclusion.
Thabo Silas Tsotetsi, a 40-year-old man, was detained by Balfour police after being reported missing just after the discovery of a woman’s body in a ceiling of the house of his residence.
The discovery was made after the suspect’s baby mama moved in with the suspect a month earlier.
The babe mama claimed that she complained often about the unpleasant smell in the home, but Tsotetsi led her to believe that the bad smell comes from the dead rats in the house.
The woman decided to report the incident to the authorities on the 04 October 2022, because she felt uncomfortable with the smell, and officers arrived to look into it.
Police discovered a body in the house after conducting a comprehensive investigation, and it was so severely decomposed that it was even challenging to identify the gender of the corpse. Due to the victim’s shoes and the nail paint, police finally had a lead.
Additionally, it was discovered that Tsotetsi disappeared three days before to the finding after telling his baby mama he was going to pay his accounts and never returned.
Police intensified their investigation which led to the arrest of Tsotetsi on Friday, 14 April 2023 in Witbank.
Tsotetsi made a first court appearance in Balfour Magistrate’s Court yesterday 17 April 2023.
He was remanded in custody and the matter was postponed to 17 May 2023 for further investigation.
Lieutenant General Semakaleng Daphney Manamela, the Provincial Commissioner of the SAPS in Mpumalanga, has applauded the arrest and praised the investigating team for bringing the perpetrator to justice.
