Free State man jailed for life after farmland dispute murder

A Free State man has been sentenced to life imprisonment for the 2022 murder of a woman police say was killed over a farmland dispute. The Free State High Court in Bloemfontein found 40-year-old Mpho Isaac Moloi guilty of murder and conspiracy to commit murder, and handed down the sentences in September.

Verdict and sentence

Moloi was convicted by the Free State High Court on June 17 of conspiracy to commit murder and murder. On September 11 the court sentenced him to life imprisonment for murder and 15 years for conspiracy to commit murder. The 15-year term will run concurrently with the life sentence.

Victim and killing

The victim, Itumeleng Claudete Tlhapuletsa, 42, was shot and killed on May 9, 2022.

How investigators linked the killing to a land dispute

Free State police spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Thabo Covane said investigators initially did not know the motive, and that it would be revealed later by police work.

“The motive of her brutal killing would be revealed by thorough police investigation at a later stage,”

Police said forensic examination of cellphone data by the Free State Cybercrime Unit showed a possible motive: a dispute over farmland. The cellphone data also linked Moloi to the conspiracy and murder, and investigators traced cellphone activity involving a phone Moloi allegedly used while incarcerated in prisons in Bloemfontein and Brandfort.

Arrests and co-accused

A week after the murder, police arrested Thapelo “Skariota” Hendricks and Khotso Vincent Motaung near the scene in Thabe Street, Rocklands. Police said the pair were allegedly impersonating a crime intelligence officer and were found in possession of a .38 Special Rossi firearm with one live round of ammunition.

Co-accused killed before trial concluded

The two other accused did not live to see the case concluded. Police reported that Motaung was shot dead in the Bloemspruit area on March 15, 2024, and that Hendricks was shot dead in the Kopanong area on June 30, 2024.

Aftermath

Following sentencing, Moloi was also declared unfit to possess a firearm, according to police statements.

The investigation, forensic cellphone analysis and court findings were detailed in statements from the Free State police, as reported by IOL.