Pretoria - In a “suicide” letter the State alleges was written by the former traffic chief of Siyabuswa, east of Pretoria, he allegedly said he was going to kill the mother of his two children as she had “ruined” his life.
Joseph Selala, 43, is facing three charges of murder in the high court in Pretoria. He allegedly shot his common law wife Vicky Masemola and his two daughters, Kgomotso, 12, and Tlakale Masemola, 8.
Vicky was found dead in her bed following a visit from Selala on December 6, 2013, at her parental home where she stayed at the time. Three empty cartridges were found on the bed.
The two children were found dead in their bed at the home of the accused, where they stayed that night.
Empty cartridges were also found on their bed.
Selala pleaded not guilty to the triple murders and elected to remain silent regarding his defence.
A family member, Magdalene Selala, testified that the accused phoned her on that fateful day and told her to go to his parental home, where he had left a letter in his bedroom. He asked her to read the letter to his mother and to take the police to his house, where they would find “two of his children he had killed”.
In the letter, handed in as an exhibit, Selala allegedly expressed his love for all his children, including the two siblings who were shot dead. He called them his pillars.
It starts off by saying: “I have tried everything possible in life to be the best brother and a good father to my lovely kids… I did not plan to leave you unprepared like this.”
The letter also said that his life was “ruined by my future wife Vicky”.
“I cant take it further. I have decided to kill her for her professional prostitution which she had been practising for a long time. She is a b****… She says my mother is bewitching. That is not true.”
The State closed its case on Tuesday and the defence indicated it would call several witnesses on Wednesday.
The family of the victim told the Pretoria News outside court on Tuesday that Vicky was a kind and loving person. She adored her children, they said. She was an accountant at KPMG at the time of her death.
The family said they were devastated by the news of her and the children’s death. They are a close- knit family and all six her siblings are attending the trial.
The family said they just want to see justice to try to find closure.
Judge Bert Bam this week heard testimony of other family members, who said the accused fetched his two daughters from their grandmother’s home, where they stayed. He also visited the children’s mother in the early hours of the morning she died.
Pretoria News