Mpumalanga Man Suspected of Murdering Girlfriend and Hiding Body in Ceiling Arrested After 6 Months on the Run

• Police in Mpumalanga have arrested a wanted murderer six months after he went into hiding
• Thabo Silas Tsotetsi went into hiding after his girlfriend's decomposing body was found in the ceiling of his home
• Tsotetsi was charged with murder and defeating the ends of justice during a brief appearance in the Balfour Magistrate’s Court

MPUMALANGA - A suspected murderer's time on the run has been brought to an end by police in Mpumalanga.

Thabo Silas Tsotetsi was arrested more than six months after his girlfriend, Nosipho Caroline Mthombeni's decomposing body was discovered in the ceiling of his Balfour home in October 2022.

Mpumalanga police Spokesperson Brigadier Selvy Mohlala confirmed that Tsotetsi was arrested on in Witbank in Friday 14 April. He had allegedly been hiding in the area since fleeing in October.

Mpumalanga man charged with murder in Balfour Magistrate's Court

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Tsotetsi briefly appeared in the Balfour Magistrate's Court on Monday, 17 April, where he was charged with murder and defeating the ends of justice.

According to TimesLIVE, the accused was remanded in custody and the matter was postponed to 17 May for further investigation.

Mpumalanga police discovered body after Tsotetsi's partner sounded alarm

Police made the gruesome discovery of Mthombeni's body after Tsotetsi's other partner alerted them to a stench coming from the house.

The woman had allegedly moved in with Tstotesti, who was the father of her child, a month earlier.

The body was allegedly wrapped in clothes and so badly decomposed that the only indication it was female was by the shoes she wore and the nail polish, IOL reported.

South Africans welcome arrest of Mpumalanga man

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Below are some comments:

Domenic Thabani said:

"The things that happen in the country will leave you numb. We are a society at war with itself. It's heartbreaking."

Zizipho Dingiswayo praised:

"SAPS is working, guys."

Sola Nqobile claimed:

"These days, everyone is being caught easily."

Fhatu Robert congratulated:

"Good job, SAPS."

Vuvu Virgo complained:

"This is too much... We live with monsters."

Bukhosi Ncube commented:

"Raising the salaries of police officers helped a lot they are doing their job happily."

SA’s “most wanted” escapee rearrested after 5 years on the run, SA in disbelief: “Here’s another Bester”

In another story, Briefly News reported that the rearrest of a 29-year-old suspected who escaped police custody in 2018 has cast SA's justice and correctional system into the spotlight once again.

Lesley Chuenyane escaped five years ago with a group of other prisoners by cutting the burglar window of a police van and jumping out when it stopped in the Laersdrift policing area in Mpumalanga.

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Chuenyane was first arrested in 2018 after forensic evidence linked him to four sexual assaults committed in Nebo, Limpopo, TimesLIVE reported.

Source: Briefly News