The investigating officer in the Hillary Gardee murder case has told the Nelspruit magistrate's court that Sipho Mkhatshwa is the one who shot her.
Col Thamsanqa Mkhaliphi told the court during Mkhatshwa bail hearing on Tuesday that they were in possession of a confession statement that he made.
“The applicant confessed to the crime. We have his confession statement,” the court heard.
“The accused is the one who told the police the exact spot where Hillary was shot (at the back of her head) and that was confirmed by postmortem [results].
“The accused is the one who shot and killed Hillary... he also concealed the gun used to shoot Hillary and the police managed to trace it on June 12.
“The accused also took the police to the place where Hillary was killed. When we arrived there, we found blood stains on the corridors and on a minibus taxi. We also found blood stains on the sneakers of accused two (Philemon Lukhele),” said Mkhaliphi.
The other accused is Albert Gama.
Mkhaliphi said they believed Gardee, the daughter of former EFF secretary-general Godrich Gardee, was killed on April 30, a day after she went missing while shopping at Nelspruit Plaza with her adopted three-year-old daughter.
The child was later dumped unharmed at KaMagugu, where they lived.
Gardee’s body was found with stab wounds, boot prints and a gunshot wound by timber plantation workers on May 3, about 60km outside Mbombela towards Sabie.
“Preliminary results says the cellphone of the accused was close to the phone of the deceased though we don't have the final cellphone results which will be ready when the expert finishes,” said Mkhaliphi.
Mkhaliphi said the investigation will be finalised in two months, adding that ballistic results were yet to come out and blood samples to prove that Gardee was also raped.
Earlier in the day, Mkhaliphi told the court that Mkhatswa, Lukhele, Gama and their lawyer hatched a plan to kill a witness.
“If the accused is granted bail, the safety of the witnesses is not guaranteed. The witnesses are going to be threatened, and he can kill the witnesses.
“The accused is also a flight risk, considering that he has relatives in the Kingdom of Eswatini,” said Mkhaliphi.
Closing arguments in Mkhathswa's bail application were postponed to Friday.
Lukhele and Gama are set to apply for bail on Wednesday.
newsdesk@sowetan.co.za
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