The prosecution has dropped the case against murder accused Mduduzi Trevor Mnisi, who protested his innocence by telling police to pull his cellphone records to show his movements.
He had been arrested for the murder of 14-year-old Likhona Fose two months ago.
The Roodepoort magistrate’s court previously heard Mnisi was allegedly linked to the crime through the statement of only one witness, who allegedly last saw the child alive with Mnisi. The witness was later described as uncooperative for failing to liaise with the investigating officer and prosecutor.
Fose’s mutilated body was discovered in a field in Durban Deep, Roodepoort, on June 1, a day after she went missing. Mnisi was released on parole in December 2018 after he was sentenced to 18 years' imprisonment for attempted murder and robbery with aggravating circumstances.
During his bail application, Mnisi said he did not know the teenager. He testified he was with friends and had visited his girlfriend, who went to court to confirm this.
The state checked his alibi and told the court his phone had been linked to cellphone towers in Daveyton and Kagiso.
Phindi Mjonondwane, the NPA Gauteng spokesperson, said the decision to withdraw the charge against Mnisi followed “the emergence of information that suggests that Mnisi was not the last person to be seen with the deceased”.
In addition to the cellphone tower records, she said, “more statements were obtained from other witnesses that confirmed that Mnisi could not have been the last person to be seen with the deceased”.
Mjonondwane said: “The decision to withdraw charges is therefore fair and responsible under these circumstances.
“The investigation to unearth what transpired on the day Fose was brutally killed continues. We urge community members to work with us in our attempts to find justice for the affected family.”
TimesLIVE
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