Johannesburg - A 32-year-old suspect believed to be the mastermind behind the brutal murder of 8-month pregnant Tshegofatso Pule was expected to appear in court on Monday following his arrest last week.
The married man, who was also said to be Pule’s lover and father of her child, was arrested at his Florida, Roodepoort home on Thursday night.
He was expected to appear at the Roodepoort Magistrate’s Court on a charge of being an accomplice to murder.
The suspect was implicated as the mastermind behind Pule’s death on Friday at the South Gauteng High Court, when Pule’s killer Muzikayise Malephane, pleaded guilty to murdering the 28-year-old woman and told the court he had been offered money to kill her.
The Soweto man pleaded guilty to the murder of Pule and entered into a plea and sentence agreement with the State.
He said he killed Pule at the behest of her lover who did not want his wife to know he had impregnated her.
According to Malephane, the man - who works as an analyst for the JSE - had first offered him R7 000 to kill Pule, however, he declined it. The amount was increased to R20 000, but Malephane still rejected it as he felt it was too little.
It was only after the man upped the offer to R70 000 that he agreed kill Pule.
Malephane then stabbed and hanged her. He was arrested while travelling from Mpumalanga in July last after a manhunt for Pule’s murder had been launched.
Malephane was handed a 20-year sentence and was also expected to testify against Pule’s lover.
IOL