Kimberley - The 26-year-old “Lovers’ Lane” killer has been found guilty on 14 charges including murder, rape and attempted murder, committed during two bloody “crime sprees” in 2013.
Jimmy Kgomotso Modisenyane appeared in the Northern Cape High Court on Tuesday when Judge Bulelwa Pakati heard closing arguments from State advocate Hannes Cloete and Modisenyane’s legal representative, Dries van Tonder, regarding the two “crime sprees” committed by the accused during July and September 2013.
During the first chain of events on July 21, 2013, Modisenyane approached a couple having sex at the notorious part of Barkly Road called “Lovers’ Lane”, and threatened them with a gun. He fired a number of shots until he ran out of ammunition leaving his victim, Dudley Nxedlana, with five gunshot wounds to his body.
While Nxedlana was lying on his back in the veld, his body “pumped full of bullets” (according to Pakati), Modisenyane raped the woman in the car and then drove off with her in the direction of Greenpoint, where he stopped the vehicle and raped her again. He then drove out on the N8 highway towards Petrusburg and raped her again when the stolen vehicle ran out of petrol.
After walking to get more petrol, picking up two hitchhikers, and driving towards Bloemfontein, the vehicle again ran out of petrol and the accused did not prevent the woman from getting into a truck with the two hitchhikers to Bloemfontein.
Here, while still unaware that Nxedlana had miraculously survived the earlier shooting, the woman reported the matter to police.
Eight of the charges, including attempted murder, three counts of rape, kidnapping, aggravated robbery, possession of an unlicensed firearm and unlawful possession of ammunition, stem from this incident.
Modisenyane was, however, only identified on September 10 after he raped a woman who recognised him from a photograph in the DFA, published under the heading “Murder at Roodepan”. The article referred to a court appearance after Modisenyane was arrested in connection with another series of crimes he committed on September 6, 2013.
On this date, he broke into a house in Kimberley where he worked as a gardener and made off with gold jewellery and a firearm.
Later that night, while in Lerato Park with three friends he grabbed a cellphone from Delbino Mabote. When Mabote tried to get it back, the accused fired a shot at him. The bullet struck him in the head and he fell to the ground, unconscious. While Mabote survived, he was left disabled and was unable to testify during the trial due to brain injuries.
Modisenyane continued his “crime spree” and that night also shot a Bangladeshi man, Shamim Ahmed, at his tuck-shop after demanding money from him.
Ahmed died in hospital.
Modisenyane was charged with six more crimes, including murder, attempted murder, robbery and housebreaking following the events of September 6.
These charges were added to the eight stemming from the incident on July 21. Modisenyane, however, denied his involvement pertaining to the events of July 21, claiming that he was at a tavern in Club 2000 before going home to sleep.
He further denied breaking into the house, as well as robbing and shooting Mabote. He also denied killing Ahmed.
Judge Pakati, however, found him guilty of all charges after rejecting his version of events as false.
The prosecutor on Tuesday called for the harshest possible sentences to be handed down, citing that Modisenyane’s actions “showed a total disregard for the sanctity of life and illustrated that the type of character the court was dealing with was a very dangerous and reckless criminal who destroyed many lives”.
He added that no compelling or substantial evidence existed for the court to deviate from the maximum sentence.
He recommended that the court hands down a life sentence for the three rapes, 25 years for the murder, 15 years each for the two attempted murders, 15 years each for the two aggravated robbery charges and five years each for the kidnapping, housebreaking, and four firearm and ammunition charges.
This equals 115 years, on top of the life imprisonment recommendation, which he requested should run concurrently.
Pakati will deliver her sentence next week.
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