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Botswana: Murderer, Corpse And Witch Doctor Form 'Ritual Murder Syndicate'
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Mmegi/The Reporter (Gaborone)
5 December 2007
Posted to the web 5 December 2007
Ryder Gabathuse
Francistown
A retired former police crack detective, Kernel Kekgonegile says that ritual murders are generally difficult to investigate by their nature.
"The motive for the killing is one aspect that sets ritual murders apart from ordinary murders where a person attacks another in full view of others and possibly kill there and then," declares the former police senior superintendent who retired in 2000.
The Maun-based retired officer says in most cases, compiling information collected from possible sources to get a major breakthrough into a case requires patience, perseverance and a great deal of hard work.
"It causes a lot of headache just to get to know how the killing was executed, the instruments used and the recovery of missing bodily parts and positively relating them to the discovered body, the relationship between the deceased and the arrested suspects and actually the whole chain of people involved in a case of ritual murder," he says.
The most difficult part of a ritual murder, Kekgonegile says, is that the arrested suspects would not simply volunteer information just because they are held in custody.
"They tend to perfect their defence since they take a long time to plan about the deal and once accomplished, it takes a great deal of time and intellect to break through," Kekgonegile points out.
He says during the initial stages of questioning and interrogation, a suspect would mellow and promise to volunteer some valuable information and only to change heart along the way.
"When investigating a case of ritual murder, detectives following whatever lead, would need to be patient and avoid excitement when a piece of information is volunteered. You need to be always perfect and thorough in handling whatever piece of information that reaches your desk," advises Kekgonegile who spent 35 years in the police service as a detective.
One of the strategies that made Kekgonegile a good detective during his heydays was his tendency to isolate suspects, totally avoiding communication with the outsiders.
"You totally cut contact and restrict the suspect so as to avoid him or her fiddling with possible evidence through the outside contacts," he says.
He says in most cases, the corpse of the victim would be moved from many places before it could be finally dumped at the place where it was discovered.
Revealing the triangle of a ritual murder, Kekgonegile says there are always the motivator, the killer and the traditional doctor.
"Human body parts reportedly strengthen the motivator and provide some good luck. This is what we have learnt as we questioned those involved in the past cases." Kekgonegile does not believe in any of these stories, but just found himself doing his work.
Although ritual murder cases are hard to crack, Kekgonegile remembers two cases in which he cracked when it was really tough.
One of the cases that Kekgonegile remembers vividly is the ritual murder in Sekoma village whilst he was based in Kanye.
"I had found a person held by the police suspected for murdering another person and dumping the remains in a hole in the thickets. Wild animals had already eaten up some bodily parts," reminisces the former crack detective.
Kekgonegile says he later had breakfast, lunch and dinner with the suspect until he broke through.
"It was after some hard work that the suspect led us to where the body parts were hidden. I managed to gather all possible evidence that later saw him convicted and condemned," the policeman revealed.
He says the initial arrest was simply based on circumstantial evidence. One thing for sure, he says, a ritual murder "syndicate" never panics.
He says experience has shown that a ritual murder suspect requires sunrise to sunset to open up.
"They are strong-hearted and they would not simply pass information. You have to be very clever when dealing with them. Don't get too close to them if you want to succeed," the crack detective advises.
Kekgonegile advises that a clever police detective would allow the suspect to do the talking whilst he listens.
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In another case which was equally anchored on circumstantial evidence, Kekgonegile says a person who was last seen in the company of a child that was later found dead with some body parts missing be fore the arrest was made.
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