Justice system scrutinised as High Court acquits man of ex-girlfriend's murder
Johannes Demcy Dielele, previously convicted of murdering his ex-girlfriend, has been acquitted by the High Court due to insufficient evidence.
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A convicted murderer, Johannes Demcy Dielele, has been acquitted by the High Court in Mahikeng after successfully appealing his life sentence for the alleged murder of his ex-girlfriend and mother of his child. The court found that the State failed to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt.
It was the State’s case that Dielele, who was sentenced in October 2023, shot and killed his ex-girlfriend at an outside toilet in the presence of her cousin, who accompanied her.
The cousin - being the only other eye witness of the alleged shooting incident - died before the commencement of trial in an unrelated accident.
The State’s version was that Dielele, after contacting the deceased’s mother and sister when she broke contact with him due to their relationship having broken down, drove to their home on the evening of August 4, 2018, in Verdwaal, Itsoseng.
The deceased and her cousin had gone to the outdoor toilet on his arrival, and Dielele followed them outside.
“Shortly thereafter, (the deceased’s mother and sister) heard the cousin screaming. They ran outside. The deceased’s mother saw Dielele walking backwards from the direction of the toilet towards his vehicle. She asked him what had happened; he did not respond.
“He drove off, colliding with the gate as he left. The deceased was found near the toilet with a gunshot wound to the right side of her head. She was declared dead by paramedics. The post-mortem report by Dr Maleka Samuel Letebele confirmed the cause of death as penetrating head trauma due to a gunshot to the head. The fatal projectile was discharged from a 7.65mm calibre firearm,” court documents read.
No eyewitness observed the actual shooting. Neither the deceased’s mother nor the sister saw Dielele in possession of a firearm at any time.
He was arrested some days after the incident. A 9mm pistol and three rounds of 9mm ammunition, different to the ballistic evidence of the murder weapon, were found in a school bag in the vehicle in which he was travelling.
During the trial, Dielele did not testify and called no witnesses in his defence.
The State sought to introduce the cousin’s account through hearsay evidence.
The High Court held that the balancing exercise conducted in the hearsay ruling was insufficient in that the cousin’s oral statements to the mother and sister were not contemporaneously recorded and that the cousin was under emotional stress.
Acting Deputy Judge President Andre Petersen said: “The circumstances attending the making of these statements do not provide the hallmarks of trustworthiness that would warrant their reception over the objection of an accused who cannot cross-examine the declarant… the prejudice to Dielele is severe.
“Her statement, if accurate, is the only eyewitness account placing the appellant as the shooter. The accused is unable to challenge her perception, test her proximity to the events, probe her state of mind, or expose any motive to falsify… the court a quo found that the hearsay was ‘corroborated’ by the evidence of the deceased’s mother and sister. That finding misdirected the enquiry. Corroboration must be independent evidence going to the critical fact that Dielele was the person who fired the weapon.”
Petersen, arriving at the acquittal decision, said with the hearsay excluded and the ballistic evidence positively disconnecting Dielele from the murder weapon, other inferences remain reasonably possible.
Dielele was acquitted of murder, unlawful possession of a firearm, and unlawful possession of ammunition.