Murder accused guilty despite DNA bungle

THE NORTHERN Cape High Court has recommended that disciplinary steps be taken against police officers implicated in an apparent DNA bungle, where a bag of forensic evidence went missing from the SAPS forensic laboratory.

- SANDI KWON HOO

Despite crucial evidence not being collected from a bloodstained stone, the accused, Butiki Maitshobogo, was this week found guilty of murdering his partner, Mardly Nero, in Ikhutseng, Warrenton.

The incident occurred in February 2024, when Nero suffered blunt force injuries to her head and body.

The court heard that the couple had argued at a tavern in Ikhutseng on February 26, 2024. Witnesses testified that they later heard the two fighting at their residence, where Nero was heard screaming for help.

A neighbour, Obakeng Modise, testified that he heard the accused call Nero a “whore whom everyone was having sex with”.

Neighbours discovered her lifeless body on February 27, 2024. She was lying naked on her back on the bed, with her hands crossed and a blanket over her body. She had multiple bruises and abrasions.

Nero’s child, aged between two and three years at the time, was asleep on the bed when the body was discovered.