{"id":47748,"date":"2023-04-29T21:16:07","date_gmt":"2023-04-29T21:16:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/false-beyond-doubt-cop-who-claimed-gun-went-off-by-accident-convicted-of-girlfriends-murder"},"modified":"2023-04-29T23:43:25","modified_gmt":"2023-04-29T23:43:25","slug":"false-beyond-doubt-cop-who-claimed-gun-went-off-by-accident-convicted-of-girlfriends-murder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/false-beyond-doubt-cop-who-claimed-gun-went-off-by-accident-convicted-of-girlfriends-murder","title":{"rendered":"‘False beyond doubt’: Cop who claimed gun went off by accident convicted of girlfriend’s murder"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. <\/strong><\/span>A 25-year-old police constable attached to Crime Intelligence in Johannesburg has been convicted of the murder of his girlfriend.<\/p>\n

Silas Masemola first claimed that his girlfriend, 31-year-old Puleng Khumalo, shot herself in April 2022 in Protea Ext 39 in Soweto.<\/p>\n

He later changed his version of events and said the gun went off accidentally.<\/p>\n

Masemola was found guilty in the Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

According to the Independent Police Investigative Directorate, the woman was shot dead in the bathroom.<\/p>\n

At the time, Masemola claimed Khumalo shot herself using his service pistol. But investigations revealed that this was not possible.<\/p>\n

Masemola had pleaded not guilty, saying he was placing his firearm in the holster when a shot was accidentally discharged, killing Khumalo.<\/p>\n

He denied intending to kill her.<\/p>\n

He added that he had testified that Khumalo shot herself because he was “scared and shocked”, mainly because his gun was used.<\/p>\n

During his bail application, Masemola said:<\/p>\n

However, during cross-examination, Masemola was asked if anyone threatened him or forced him to say anything, and his response was “no”.<\/p>\n

Several witnesses, including the girlfriend’s two cousins, testified that Khumalo told them that Masemola threatened to kill her if she were to leave him.<\/p>\n

While the evidence was found to be “hearsay”, the court accepted it.<\/p>\n

The court said that, based on the evidence, “there is no doubt that the accused carried out the threat which the [girlfriend] spoke about, and I find that he killed [Khumalo] by shooting her whilst she was in the bathroom”.<\/p>\n

“His version that the shot went off accidentally is rejected by this court as being false beyond doubt.”<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About South-Africa<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. A 25-year-old police constable attached to Crime Intelligence in Johannesburg has been convicted of the murder of his girlfriend. Silas Masemola first claimed that his girlfriend, 31-year-old Puleng Khumalo, shot herself in April 2022 in Protea Ext 39 in Soweto. He later changed his version of events and said the gun went […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":47747,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3],"tags":[274,315,2372,309,310,573,312,275],"class_list":["post-47748","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-community","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-south-africa","tag-crime-and-courts","tag-gauteng","tag-johannesburg","tag-murder","tag-saps","tag-south-africa-2"],"yoast_head":"\n'False beyond doubt': Cop who claimed gun went off by accident convicted of girlfriend's murder - South Africa<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A 25-year-old police constable attached to Crime Intelligence in Johannesburg has been convicted of the murder of his gi ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, 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