WhatsApps and cellphone records could crack murder case
The state is using call records as key evidence in its case against murder-accused Ntuthuko Shoba, reports the City Press.
Key witnesses provided evidence that allegedly shows Shoba was in contact with Muzikayise Malephane, the man who turned state witness and confessed to killing Shoba’s ex-partner, Tshegofatso Pule.
Additionally, the state has focused on two cellphone numbers — one being registered to Shoba — that were picked up at a base station just 208m away from Malephane’s residence.
State witness Warrant Officer Andries van Tonder said that the second number was picked up at 14:29 on 27 May 2020, while there was an entry just one minute later from the first number that was picked up at the same base station.
Malephane had previously testified that he’d received phone calls from both phone numbers and that these calls had been from Shoba.
Counter-argument
Shoba’s defence has accused the police of doing poor work, referring to several “discrepancies” such as:
- Not taking Malephane to confirm the crime scene.
- Not making Malephane show them where he got rid of the weapon.
- Not identifying “absent messages” during investigations, but only during the trial.
The absent messages in question refer to WhatsApp correspondence on a second phone discovered when Shoba was arrested at his home in February 2021.
These messages were not identified on the phone that Shoba handed over to police in June 2020 when they took a statement from Shoba regarding Pule’s death.
Shoba’s defence argued that it was procedurally flawed that the WhatsApp correspondence was not mentioned on any statements or in the docket, but had arisen during state witness Sergeant Mpe Teme’s testimony.
Teme said the messages had not been identified sooner because Shoba had not been a suspect at the time of the June 2020 correspondence.
“You must recall, My Lord, I mentioned that, at the time I was taking down the accused’s statement, he was not a suspect. At that stage, we were looking for the perpetrator of the offence,” he said.
The state has also accused Shoba of performing a SIM swap and receiving his phone data and messages while his second smartphone was with the police. His defence has denied these allegations.
The trial will resume on Tuesday 8 February.
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