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Head in freezer killer sentenced

TOKOLOSHE CLAIM: A man who killed a teenager and kept his victim’s head in a freezer has been sentenced to life imprisonment

The sentence was handed down by the Pietermaritzburg High Court.

31-year-old Roger Thusi was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of 18-year-old Loyisa Jokweni, National Prosecuting Authority regional spokeswoman Natasha Ramkisson said.

Police searched a house in the France township and discovered Jokweni’s head, along with a dead snake, in a freezer at the house.

The 18-year-old’s decapitated body was found on January 17 last year.

His family identified him from his clothes.

A 47-year-old traditional healer, Mduduzi Manqele, was also arrested for the murder, but charges against him were later withdrawn due to insufficient evidence, Ramkisson said.

In February last year a public petition handed to the Pietermaritzburg Magistrate’s Court alleged that tokoloshes (evil spirits) were being used to steal court dockets.

The petition alleged that Manqele, a wealthy traditional healer, was “well-known for keeping evil creatures which collect dockets from court”.

At the time a local resident said Thusi led the police to Manqele after the healer allegedly told him to behead Jokweni and put the head in a freezer “to get rich”.

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