The 40-year-old man accused of killing his three sons on July 17 in Tati Siding was this Tuesday denied bail by Francistown Magistrate Court until his matter is committed to the High Court.
Boikanyo Teddy France (40) is alleged to have committed the gruesome crime in Mmosoro ward, of Tati Siding on that fateful day.
Leading evidence, to demonstrate France as an unsuitable candidate to be granted bail, Prosecutor Moffat Dick called to the witness box Detective Constable Jane Ketlogetswe, the investigating officer (Investigating Officer) in the triple murder case.
The IO’s elaborate narration created a picture for Chief Magistrate Game Mooketsi and the fully packed courtroom of how gruesome, and barbaric France allegedly killed his innocent sons Andile Botshelo (13), Katlego Botshelo and Kyden Botshelo aged 10 and eight respectively.
“We got a report at 06:10 that children in Tati Siding had been killed and the mother of the suspect had been injured. On arrival we found the boys aged 13, 10, and 8 lying in a pool of blood in a two-roomed house,” began Ketlogetswe.
“At the hospital, the bodies of the boys were certified dead. The same morning intense tracking for the suspect began, with units from the Special Support Group, police, and members of the community. Sixty officers were involved in tracking down the suspect and manhunt lasted seven days and nights,” he continued.
“The manhunt started from Tati Siding, stretched to Ditladi, along Shashe River and the dam. The search team tracked on foot, with vehicles and with a helicopter. On the 25th of July at around 20:00 hours, the police got a telephone call from one Peter Moyo popularly known as Marepe. He said he had in his custody the suspect (France). On interviewing the suspect, he distanced himself from the killing. He said he believed the boys were still alive,” he said.
However, Ketlogetswe assured the court, the right man has been arrested since the accuse’s mother told the police that she found her son slitting “the throats of the youngest boys”.
“The 13-year-old boy had a wound on his throat and below the left breast, the 10-year-old also had a wound on his throat, so did the eight-year-old boy,”, highlighted Detective Constable.
According to the investigator, the discovery of the horrific tragedy started when the grandmother of the boys Baganetse France heard the cry of a child.
“She recognised the voice to be of the eight-year-old boy and she rushed to the two-roomed house where the suspect and the boys were sleeping, opened the door, and found France slitting the throat of the eight-year-old. The youngest escaped from his father and ran to the grandmother who was now fighting France, to stop.
“The boy is said to have run outside the house and straight to one tenant in the homestead and asked him to help. He brought the boy back to his grandmother, who asked him to check if the other two boys were still breathing. Only for him to leave the room and call the neighbor to bring a blanket.”
Detective Ketlogetswe further pointed out that investigations are at an initial stage. With statements yet to be recorded from key witnesses, among them France’s mother, the mother of the deceased boys, and her friend.
“We are yet to recover the weapon which was used to kill the children. The suspect has not yet led us to the crime scene.”
She also said the release of France would jeopardise investigations and endanger the lives of witnesses. “The mother of the boys is currently being kept in a police shelter, undergoing counselling. She is under police protection. While France’s mother and another witness are also under police protection.”
In her ruling, Chief Magistrate Game Mooketsi concurred that France’s seven-day run evading the law “shows he is a man who cannot be trusted with his own liberty. If it indeed he did not want to evade justice it would not have taken him this long to turn himself in to the police. He is a flight risk.”
“We had to seek a bigger courtroom at the High Court to ensure attendance of as many interested stakeholders as possible. This is an indication of the keen interest society has in this matter, and the release of the suspect will spark outrage from society, which was so deeply involved in the manhunt of the accused. Society also looks up to courts for protection from perpetrators of such heinous crimes.”
France returns to court on the 13th of August.
