Hitchhiking Murder Suspect on the Run Arrested After Unknowingly Accepting Lift From Mpumalanga Police

• Sharp-witted Mpumalanga police outsmarted a suspected murderer, capturing him when he least expected it
• Mayflower police detectives stumbled upon a vital lead about a person of interest hitchhiking, which led to the development of an intelligent ruse
• The sly plan resulted in the astonishing confession of the man’s involvement in his girlfriend's 2019 murder

NELSPRUIT - Quick-thinking Mpumalanga police officers successfully arrested a suspected murderer with a cunning plan the fugitive never saw coming.

A statement from the South African Police Service (SAPS) revealed that detectives from the Mayflower Policing Precinct were investigating a sexual offence case when they stumbled on information about a person of interest.

Further investigation and probing questions to the family revealed that the person of interest was on the run from the police and hitchhiking to Witbank, Mpumalanga.

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Murder suspect accepts lift from police

Quick-thinking officers hatched a plan to get the man into custody without alerting him that the police were on to him.

The detective set out on the road they knew he would be travelling on and offered him a lift when they crossed paths with their target. The man happily jumped in the car, unaware that the good Samaritans were police officials.

When the officers asked him why he was on the run, the man revealed that he was involved in the 2019 murder of his girlfriend.

The man was arrested on Tuesday, 15 August and appeared in the Albert Luthuli Magistrate's Court on Thursday, 17 August, where he was charged with murder.

Mpumalanga man murders girlfriend

As it turned out, four years prior, the man and his girlfriend got into an argument that led to the 26-year-old’s death, allegedly at the hands of her boyfriend.

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The woman's family reported her missing at the Mayfair police station but had no way of knowing that their daughter had been killed.

During the missing person investigation, the 43-year-old man was approached by police but he denied knowing the woman, IOL reported.

SA praise SAPS for quicking-thinking arrest

Below are some comments:

@ThaCido88 asked:

“So, he was that confident to speak about it?”

@Vick26448476 praised:

“Respect to members.”

Matome Mathekga said:

“Talk about the long arm of justice, he actually reached out to the arm of justice.”

Thato Maleta added:

“When it's your time, it's your time.”

Brian Van Der Mabale criticised:

“Dumbest thug ever.”

Hein Muller commented:

“God works in mysterious ways.”

Alfred Akanyang claimed:

“He actually handed himself over.”

Police film demolition of new house

Briefly News reported that a video showing traffic officers using their phones to record the demolition of an unknown person's house is going around online.

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The cops are seen in a TikTok clip uploaded by @kg08vvvvvvr standing a few metres away from the house being destroyed. They tried to get all the good angles as the building crumbled.

People were upset about the officers' behaviour, saying it was distasteful and insensitive. They speculated in the comments about why the newly built house was being taken down.

Source: Briefly News