In 2018, a Cape Town crime intelligence officer, splattered the brain of the mother of his daughter, locked the door and left her dead inside her shack.
On Wednesday, the High Court of South Africa sitting in the Western Cape, sentenced Thandolwethu Faku to life in prison. The lengthy trial had begun after Faku shot Wendy Papu in the head after a heated argument.
According to the evidence led during the trial, Papu was caught up in an abusive relationship with Faku. The couple’s daughter was three months old at the time of murder.
It was revealed in court that Faku went to the deceased’s home, a shack in Khayelitsha, Cape Town. After shooting Papu, he then locked the shack and left behind the mortally wounded Papu and her sleeping daughters.
Faku rushed to the police station where he reported the matter however. He changed the story and said he was robbed at gunpoint by two unknown assailants who then killed his ex-girlfriend.
“To cover up the murder, he abandoned his vehicle, his firearm, and his phone close to Strandfontein Beach near Baden Powell Drive in Mitchells Plain. He then went to Mfuleni police station and falsely reported that he had been hijacked and robbed at the deceased’s house,” said National Prosecuting Authority’s spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila.
False claims of hijacking, robbery
In court, Faku said he went to deceased’s shack to drop off money she had requested and was accosted by two males who robbed him of his belongings, including his phone, wallet, and requested him to tell them where he was going.
He testified that a gun was held to his head and forced to lead his attackers to Papu’s home. Faku said he knocked and upon him telling the deceased it was him she opened the door.
He said he was bundled into the boot of his car by one of his assailants and later heard a single gunshot, followed by footsteps and the car then driving off.
He further testified that he was later dropped in a bushy area.
On top of the life sentence, Faku was also sentenced to six months imprisonment for assault. He received three years for attempting to defeat the administration of justice.
The court ordered the sentences to run concurrently and declared the former police officer unfit to possess a firearm.
