Johannesburg - A Tembisa woman who was “motivated by greed” to take out a hit on her partner will spend her life behind bars – together with the three assassins she hired.
Patricio Mucova, 47, died in a hail of bullets after the men his partner Maria Tsolo, 42, hired broke into the house and shot him dead in front of his daughter and niece.
As Mucova lay on the floor dying, brothers Joseph Kubayi, 39, Juda Kubayi, 30, and third accused Andrew Nyiko, 33, demanded his phone and money to make the crime appear like a robbery.
The commotion woke Mucova’s 25-year-old son Patricio jnr, who was shot trying to go to his father’s aid. He was shot when he opened the door.
Tsolo paid the assassins R20 000.
As Judge Lucy Mailula sentenced the four to life imprisonment at the High Court sitting in Palm Ridge on Thursday, Nyiko – who had provided transport to the house that fateful day – prayed silently, a Bible clasped in his hands.
Judge Mailula found the killing had been motivated by greed.
“Tsolo did not state what motivated her to make this horrendous decision.
“For reasons not known, she decided to cut the deceased’s life short.
“What is known is that she got R65 000 after Mucova’s death and that his taxi business was transferred into her name.
“What is callous is that she was sleeping with the deceased in their bed in their home, whereas all this time she was planning to cut his life short.
“What further aggravates the offence is that the plan was to execute Mucova in front of the children and in front of her. The trauma the children suffered must be unimaginable.
“*Charlene lost her father at the hands of her mother and the niece lost an uncle at the hands of her aunt,” Judge Mailula said.
Mucova was shot four times and died at the scene.
The judge said that although only one person pulled the trigger, all four of the accused carried the blame for what had happened.
She also said that while no one was found guilty of Patricio jnr’s death, the court could not ignore that two lives were snuffed out because of the four’s actions.
Although the assassins were young men with families themselves, that had not deterred them from taking the life of a family man.
“They (Mucova and his son) were shot in their own homes, where they thought they were safe. This was not a spur-of-the-moment thing, it was meticulously planned,” the judge added.
Mucova’s brother Jaime said he was happy with the sentence and thought his family back home in Mozambique would welcome it.
*Not her real name.
The Star