The notorious serial killer who murdered the daughter of EFF Deputy President Gordrich Gardee has been convicted for the murder of a heavily pregnant Gauteng woman and her husband he killed in front of their children.
Rassie Nkuna and former police officer Jacob Chego were convicted by the Pretoria High Court on Monday on two counts of murder, kidnapping and defeating the ends of justice.
The court heard that Sabeliwe Mogashoa was eight months pregnant when she and her husband, Lucky, were murdered on the side of the road. Their children – aged eight and one at the time – witnessed their parents’ murders and had to be rescued by a Good Samaritan who saw them wandering on the road.
He is also serving a life sentence for killing his police officer girlfriend and her sister.
Delivering his judgment on Monday morning, Judge Samuel Makamu outlined the sequence of events and the evidence led by the state in the Mogashoa murder case, finding that Nkuna and Chego had acted in common purpose.
“The state has proved its case beyond reasonable doubt and they are guilty of conspiracy to commit murder, kidnapping, robbery, two counts of murder and fraud by falsifying the documents,” he said.
Evidence revealed that in March 2022, Lucky was misled and informed that his stolen BMW had been recovered in Mpumalanga and was ready to be released to him.
Nkuna impersonated a police officer and told the couple to pick him up at a police station in Benoni.
Inside the car were the couple and their two children, aged eight and one. The evidence before the court was that while driving to Mpumalanga, where the vehicle had been stored, Nkuna pointed a firearm at the couple and instructed them to drive to some bushes along the Etwatwa off-ramp on the N12 in Ekurhuleni.
Nkuna then instructed the couple to get out of the car and kneel before him.
According to the then eight-year-old, who testified in court about that day, his mother was shot first and his father afterwards.
After shooting the couple, Nkuna left the children at the roadside and a Good Samaritan took them to a nearby police station.
The then eight-year-old also assisted in identifying Nkuna during an identity parade.
Nkuna had been in prison for a cash-in-transit heist and was released in January 2022, two months before the Mogashoas were murdered. He bought the Mogashoas’ BMW after his release using the heist money. It was never revealed who sold him the car.
However, records show that the same BMW – which was in the possession of the police – was later released after a fraudulent affidavit was presented claiming that Lucky had granted his “sister”, Betty Simangele Nkosi, permission to have the car released to her.
Nkosi testified at the time that her ID was with a loan shark, Elvis Makhubele, who was close to Nkuna.
It was Chego who facilitated the release of the BMW under the pretence that it was being released to Lucky’s relative. He also claimed to have obtained Lucky’s permission.
However, evidence revealed that on the day he claimed to have made the call, Lucky was already dead and his phone was off.
Makamu said the accused worked in common purpose to obtain the BMW’s original ownership documents.
Nkuna has been linked to at least six murders he is alleged to have committed between March 2022 and August 2022.
EFF members were in court to support the Mogashoa family.
Sentencing is expected in August.
