CAPE TOWN - A 26-year-old man was sentenced to 14 years behind bars by the Virginia Regional Court in Welkom, for the murder of a 62-year-old man, Free State police said on Tuesday.
Police spokesperson, Constable Mahlomola Peter Kareli said Lehlohonolo Moqhali was sentenced on Tuesday for stabbing the elderly man to death in October last year.
Kareli said Lehlohonolo was walking with his friend late at night in Meloding when they met the 62-year-old man and asked him for a cigarette.
“The man told the two boys that he does not have a cigarette, Lehlohonolo did not take his response kindly and viciously stabbed him multiple times. The old man died on the scene,” he said.
Virginia Police were called to the scene and a murder docket was opened. The two suspects were arrested and their case referred to the provincial organised team for further investigation.
Both suspects appeared in the Virginia Magistrate Court and the 26-year-old pleaded guilty on the charge and was sentenced to 14 years in prison for murder and his friend was acquitted of all charges, Kareli said.