Africa-Press – South-Africa. The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) has dismissed a former police officer’s appeal against his 30-year sentence for murdering his wife and daughter and instead handed him a life sentence.
Former warrant officer Benedict Moagi Peloeole was stationed at the VIP Protection Unit at the presidential residence Mahlamba Ndlopfu in Pretoria when he killed his wife, Jane, and daughter, Tsholofelo Trecia, using his service pistol at their home in Westville, Pretoria West, on 12 September 2015.
Peloeole was convicted in June 2018 and later sentenced to 20 years imprisonment on each count of murder in the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria.
The court ruled that 10 years of his sentence for the murder of his daughter should be served concurrently with the first count, which took his sentence to 30 years.
The court found that both murders, which were committed in the presence of relatives, had been premeditated.
In his appeal application, Peloeole’s legal representative said the court had erred in ruling that the murders had been premeditated because it neglected to mention the finding in its conviction, and only mentioned it during sentencing in 2019.
However, the SCA ruled that this omission did not prejudice Peloeole.
His lawyer further said that the murders had not been premeditated and that he had acted on the spur of the moment because he had been angry.
Again, the court dismissed this, finding that Peloeole had walked from the sitting room to the bedroom, took out his pistol, and cocked it before shooting his daughter and then his wife.
Before this, he had a brief conversation with his daughter, which the court found could not have triggered his actions.
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During pre-sentencing proceedings, a clinical psychologist testified in mitigation that the couple had a troubled marriage.
Peloeole told the psychologist that his marriage had been riddled with arguments, accusations of infidelity, alcohol, and physical abuse.
It was also suggested that his wife feared for her safety and had arranged with his former station commander to have his service pistol confiscated.
The psychologist said:
“Regarding his daughter, the appellant felt that she was disrespectful of him after he had assisted her to get an education,” the psychologist added.
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The SCA said it considered the body parts he targeted when he shot his wife and daughter and concluded that he had the intent to kill.
“He fired a fatal shot at the daughter, then at the wife, then fired another shot at the daughter before firing another shot at his wife. The number of bullets he fired at his daughter and wife, and the parts of the body he targeted, leaves no doubt about his intention to see them dead. That suggests that this is a result he premeditated,” read the ruling.
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