Bloemfontein investigators have arrested and charged 41-year-old Kopano Tjobo, his brother Tshukudiso (34) and his friend Thapelo Monnane (39) with the ruthless premeditated murder of Sefora Tjobo.
What happened to Sefora, according to Kopano Tjobo
The last time anyone saw Sefora alive was on the morning of Thursday 2 July 2020. She had left her house at around 08:00 in a hurry to meet someone near Dinaweng, a township in Bloemfontein.
When Kopano returned home that day, he found a letter, apparently written by Sefora, which noted the meeting and next to it, was her cellphone.
Oblivious to this oddity, Kopano claims that he thought nothing of it. However, he grew worrisome after his wife failed to return home that day.
When two days had gone by with no sight of his wife, Kopano claims he went looking for her at the meeting location she had mentioned in the letter.
Searching frantically for Sefora, with no assistance from friends, relatives and without filing a missing persons report, Kopano claims he stumbled on his wife’s lifeless body discarded in a dam next to Dewetsdorp Road.
Free State police lift the lid on Kopano’s murder plot
The first time Bloemfontein investigators were alerted of Sefora’s fate was two days after she was last seen alive, the first red flag they noted according to police spokesperson Brigadier Motantsi Makhele.
The husband’s story just didn’t add up. Why would Sefora leave her phone behind? Why would she write a letter instead of sending a text message? More importantly, why did it take Kopano two days to report his wife missing?
Investigators looked into the evidence at hand and it all pointed to the husband. It turns out, he allegedly knew about Sefora’s meeting because he had lured her out to Diwaneng “where they were to meet so as to do a ritual.”
Furthermore, police believe Sefora arrived at the meeting location unaware that she was preyed on by her husband and her brother-in-law Tshukudiso.
“Once there the husband allegedly stabbed and strangled her whilst the brother was holding her. After dropping the body they went to Thapelo who helped cover their tracks,” Brigadier Makhele revealed.
Thapelo’s efforts to cover up the alleged murder were futile in the eyes of investigators. Their plot was riddled with flaws. It was also discovered, through handwriting analysis that it was, in fact, Thapelo who wrote the letter.
The only missing piece to the puzzle, at this point, is motive, a factor to this homicide that has yet to be established.
All three suspects are scheduled to appear before the Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday where they are expected to submit a bail application.
