×

We've got news for you.

Register on SowetanLIVE at no cost to receive newsletters, read exclusive articles & more.
Register now

Hawks swoop on woman after she allegedly pays undercover cop R20 000 to kill husband

A South African woman is in custody after allegedly hiring an undercover policeman to kill her Mozambican husband.

The 55-year-old woman — whose name is known to The Times — was arrested on Sunday in the Mpumalanga town of White River as she handed over R20 000 to the policeman who pretended to be a hitman.

The murder‚ according to the Hawks‚ was to have allegedly been disguised as a botched hijacking. The couple were to have been attacked in Malelane as they returned to their home in Ponto do Oura.

The Times has learnt that this is not the first time that the woman‚ who was remanded into custody until next week Tuesday‚ has been investigated for such a plot.

In 2012 she became a suspect in the murder of her second husband Allen Hepburn‚ 42‚ who was stabbed to death in the driveway of his Bronkhorstspruit home while he changed his car’s flat tyre.

According to police‚ her first husband died several years ago from cancer.

Mpumalanga Hawks spokesman‚ Captain Dineo Sekgotodi‚ confirmed the woman’s arrest and said that she had been charged with conspiracy to commit murder.

She said police were alerted to the plot after she allegedly tried to hire a hitman.

“The woman did not know that the hitman was actually an undercover policeman. The alleged plot was to have seen the couple attacked in Malelane in an apparent botched hijacking as they returned to their home in Ponto do Oura home on Sunday from White River where they had been visiting friends for the weekend.

“The arrest was made when the woman handed over R20 000 for the hit.”

Sekgotodi said during their investigations police discovered that the woman was also a “person of interest” in the murder of Hepburn.

“Her second husband was killed in February 2012 when he was stabbed seven times by an unknown group of men at his home while changing a flat tyre. Nothing was stolen from him during the attack and no arrests have ever been made for his murder.

“The woman‚ who discovered her then husband’s body‚ was out at the time of his murder.”

She said that the woman‚ according to the investigating officer tasked with solving Hepburn’s murder‚ had been incredibly uncooperative at the time of the investigation.

“Our investigators are now liaising with the Bronkhorstspruit investigating officer to see if she can be linked to that murder and whether it was a genuine murder or a hit.”

 

Would you like to comment on this article?
Register (it's quick and free) or sign in now.

Speech Bubbles

Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.