In his confession, he said the murder took place between November 1 and November 13 2021 and he was living with the victim.
“I took the deceased's bank card and went to buy food, as I would sometimes do, and she did not have a problem with that.
“However, when I came back the deceased confronted me about using her bank card without informing her first. We then started to have an argument which quickly escalated.
“At some point during the argument, as we were closer to each other, I pushed her and she hit the back of her head on the stove or corner of the stove and she then fell down. When she stood up I noticed that she was bleeding and she advanced towards me but I managed to grab a knife and stabbed her in the neck. She died in seconds,” Hlabangwane said.
He said that upon realising he had killed his girlfriend, he did not know what to do.
“My first thought was to try hide the body. I dragged her body to the floor where she had hit her head with the intention of concealing what had happened.
“After cleaning up, I left the house, drove around because I did not know how I was going to dispose of the body so as to conceal what I had done. I drove around and I went to a certain person who was known to me to buy drugs and I then went back home.
“When I got home I went where I had left the deceased, I tried to drag her body as I wanted to take it and put it in the boot of my car, however I was unable to do so. It occurred to me that I would have to dismember her body to be able to carry it into my car and to ultimately dispose of it,” he said.
LISTEN | Flavio Hlabangwane to make further admissions in 'body in fridge' trial
Image: Kgaugelo Masweneng
The murder trial of Flavio Hlabangwane, who put body parts of his girlfriend in a fridge, might be shortened as he intends to make further admissions after a confession.
The trial resumed on Thursday in the high court sitting in the Palm Ridge magistrate's court. He pleaded guilty to murder, defeating or obstructing the administration of justice, and violation of the corpse of Tshepang Pitse in November 2021.
On Thursday, the best friend of the deceased testified of the abusive nature of the relationship between Hlabangwane and Pitse.
Voicenote recordings sent to Thulisiwe Lubambo were played in court where the accused was alluding that their friendship and her interference in their relationship was upsetting him.
Listen here:
It was earlier brought to the court’s attention that the accused attempted to have a romantic relationship with Lubambo, the best friend.
After her evidence was presented to the court, the accused instructed his lawyer to not cross-examine the witness as he intended to make further admissions during consultation.
Flavio Hlabangwane's 'body parts in fridge' trial begins
In his confession, he said the murder took place between November 1 and November 13 2021 and he was living with the victim.
“I took the deceased's bank card and went to buy food, as I would sometimes do, and she did not have a problem with that.
“However, when I came back the deceased confronted me about using her bank card without informing her first. We then started to have an argument which quickly escalated.
“At some point during the argument, as we were closer to each other, I pushed her and she hit the back of her head on the stove or corner of the stove and she then fell down. When she stood up I noticed that she was bleeding and she advanced towards me but I managed to grab a knife and stabbed her in the neck. She died in seconds,” Hlabangwane said.
He said that upon realising he had killed his girlfriend, he did not know what to do.
“My first thought was to try hide the body. I dragged her body to the floor where she had hit her head with the intention of concealing what had happened.
“After cleaning up, I left the house, drove around because I did not know how I was going to dispose of the body so as to conceal what I had done. I drove around and I went to a certain person who was known to me to buy drugs and I then went back home.
“When I got home I went where I had left the deceased, I tried to drag her body as I wanted to take it and put it in the boot of my car, however I was unable to do so. It occurred to me that I would have to dismember her body to be able to carry it into my car and to ultimately dispose of it,” he said.
This is when he took a butcher's knife and started to cut her legs and arms.
“After that I then took the drugs that I had bought earlier and I proceeded in dismembering the body. I took both arms and the legs put them in black plastic bags and put them in a freezer in the house. I took the head together with the torso and put them in a bag and went to dispose of them.
“I drove to an open field in Randfontein and buried the deceased's head in a grave, but before I left I noticed it wasn’t properly buried and it would be easy for people to see and I then started digging up the head again, but in the process of doing so I hit the head of the deceased,” he added.
He finally managed to bury the head and left.
“I then went to Kliprivier and disposed of the torso then proceeded home where I began to clean up the whole house using bleach.
“After that, I took the clothes that I was wearing and which the deceased was wearing and I went to an open veld not far from where we resided and burnt them,” his confession read.
The prosecutor, senior state advocate Johan Badenhorst, accepted the plea on two of the charges, except for the murder charge.
Badenhorst cited that it was prudent for the state to tender evidence to expand on the allegations levelled against the accused.
The matter has been postponed to January 27.
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