Friday, August 30, 2024 - Police in North West province, South Africa, have uncovered an insurance fraud-related murder, after a 62-year-old was arrested for allegedly feeding poisoned pies to three members of his family, including his own son.
The three deaths took place over a period of three years
after the accused, Daniel Mokwai offered them pies laced with poison.
The police said all three deceased - including his
31-year-old son - had initially been thought to have died from natural causes.
North West police spokesperson, Colonel Adéle Myburgh said
Mokwai made insurance claims on all three deceased. She said the bodies of all
three deceased were exhumed and pathology reports confirmed that they were
poisoned, leading to the murder investigations.
In the first incident, reported on Saturday, December 5,
2020, a boy, 16, died after eating the pie given to him. He was a relative of
the accused's wife. He died at midday between Phuduhudu and Gopane, close to
Bloemhof.
A year later, on December 1, 2021, another relative of the
accused’s wife died at night in Boitumelong township, outside of Bloemhof. The
boy, aged 16, also d!ed after eating a pie bought by the accused.
The third case involved the accused’s son, Mothibi Alpheos
Mokwai, 31, who died on Sunday, October 9, 2022, after eating a pie at his
house in Matthysse Street, Bloemhof.
Mokwai was arrested on Monday and subsequently appeared in
the Bloemhof Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday. He was charged with three
murders.
The court remanded him in custody until Wednesday, September
4. The postponement was to allow for him to get legal representation.
“In all three cases, the accused successfully claimed from
his insurance policies. However, family members reported him to the police
after becoming suspicious that he murdered their relatives by allegedly buying
all three of them pies. They would then get sick after eating the pie and
eventually died,” said Myburgh.
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