{"id":302829,"date":"2022-05-04T04:02:55","date_gmt":"2022-05-04T02:02:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/bloemnewsexpress\/murderers-conviction-a-long-time-coming-20220503\/"},"modified":"2022-05-04T04:02:55","modified_gmt":"2022-05-04T02:02:55","slug":"murderers-conviction-a-long-time-coming-20220503","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/bloemnewsexpress\/murderers-conviction-a-long-time-coming-20220503\/","title":{"rendered":"Murderer\u2019s conviction a long time coming"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The Free State High Court has brought to book yet another convict linked to the murder of former Moroka Swallows FC player Alfred Lejoni Helepi. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ntsane Togowe was found guilty in a trial held from 19 to 21 April. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sentencing has been set for 10 May, pending arguments by Togowe\u2019s legal team and the state regarding mitigating and aggravating circumstances. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Togowe handed himself over to the police in Bloemfontein in 2018 after widespread reports that he was wanted in connection with Helepi\u2019s murder. He was initially charged with murder and armed robbery with aggravating circumstances, but was granted bail of R1 000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In October of the same year, however, he mysteriously disappeared in the Free State High Court while on trial for the brutal murder. A warrant for his rearrest was consequently issued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Investigation revealed that Togowe had fled to Lesotho by utilising false information about his real identity to evade arrest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After four years in hiding, Togowe was arrested by the police of the neighbouring country and repatriated to South Africa on 8 December to stand trial for Helepi\u2019s murder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He was remanded in custody for the duration of the trial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Of the five suspects linked to Helepi\u2019s murder on 29 March 2016, Togowe is the second culprit to be convicted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Andile Banzini Gxamza from the Eastern Cape is already serving an effective 25-year sentence after his conviction in June 2019. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Three Lesotho nationals, Dira Moreenyane, Nthabiseng Lempe and Alice Majake, are still on the run. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li> All five suspects were released from custody in 2016 due to puzzling developments. The state was also believed to have bungled the case by appointing two state presiding officers who were reportedly unfamiliar with details of the case. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Free State High Court has brought to book yet another convict linked to the murder of former Moroka Swallows FC player Alfred Lejoni 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Wendy Susan Jacobs (43) was sentenced yesterday, 3 October, after the court found","rel":"","context":"In &quot;News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/bloemnewsexpress\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/bloemnewsexpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/658d2217e23a40ebaa7d3927dae1933f.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/bloemnewsexpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/658d2217e23a40ebaa7d3927dae1933f.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/bloemnewsexpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/658d2217e23a40ebaa7d3927dae1933f.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/bloemnewsexpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/658d2217e23a40ebaa7d3927dae1933f.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":300706,"url":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/bloemnewsexpress\/armed-business-robbers-due-for-trial-in-free-state-20231005\/","url_meta":{"origin":302829,"position":4},"title":"Armed business robbers due for trial in Free State","author":"BloemNews Express","date":"5 October 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"The trial of four additional suspects standing accused of allegedly orchestrating two business armed robberies and killing a police officer is set for 11 October in the Wepener Regional Court. Thabo Moshesha, Potsane Poone, Thabo Tshabalala, and Dita","rel":"","context":"In &quot;News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/bloemnewsexpress\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/bloemnewsexpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/0225a88f4cc449009b52c9cadf0c3c00.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/bloemnewsexpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/0225a88f4cc449009b52c9cadf0c3c00.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/bloemnewsexpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/0225a88f4cc449009b52c9cadf0c3c00.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/bloemnewsexpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/0225a88f4cc449009b52c9cadf0c3c00.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":270695,"url":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/bloemnewsexpress\/young-man-sentenced-to-life-for-brutal-murder-and-robbery-of-dealsville-teacher\/","url_meta":{"origin":302829,"position":5},"title":"Young man sentenced to life for brutal murder and robbery of Dealsville teacher","author":"Teboho Setena","date":"29 October 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Teacher's killer gets life sentence","rel":"","context":"In &quot;News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/bloemnewsexpress\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/bloemnewsexpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/AdamTshabagaeteacher_43596-e1761725935631.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/bloemnewsexpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/AdamTshabagaeteacher_43596-e1761725935631.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/bloemnewsexpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/AdamTshabagaeteacher_43596-e1761725935631.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/bloemnewsexpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/AdamTshabagaeteacher_43596-e1761725935631.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/bloemnewsexpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/AdamTshabagaeteacher_43596-e1761725935631.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"BloemNews Express","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/bloemnewsexpress","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/bloemnewsexpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/302829","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/bloemnewsexpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/bloemnewsexpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/bloemnewsexpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/67"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/bloemnewsexpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=302829"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/bloemnewsexpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/302829\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/bloemnewsexpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=302829"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/bloemnewsexpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=302829"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/bloemnewsexpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=302829"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/bloemnewsexpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=302829"},{"taxonomy":"publication","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/bloemnewsexpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/publication?post=302829"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}