THE Palmridge Magistrates Court heard that murder accused Flavio Hlabangwane pursued his lover’s friend to be in a romantic relationship with him.
This was after he insulted the friend and accused her of trying to sabotage his relationship with his girlfriend, the court heard.
On Thursday, 26 January, Tshepang Pitse’s friend, who is also the state witness, returned to the stand.
Her testimony ended with the court reading out text conversations between her and the accused in October 2021, as well as playing out WhatsApp voicenotes from Flavio.
In the voicenotes, Flavio could be heard swearing at Tshepang’s friend and telling her not to instruct him on how he should speak to Tshepang.
He said he loved Tshepang.
Flavio said the friend was wrong to encourage Tshepang to leave him rather than resole issues.
Flavio said in the voicenote: “I’m not trying to sabotage her or break you guys apart. What kind of advice is that? That is not a matured advice. Don’t come here and tell me how I should be treating her and that you love her more. No, you don’t. You don’t know anything about me or her or about us.”
He said her actions were really getting him angry.
However, the court learnt that there was a sudden change of heart and Flavio declared his love to the same friend.
In text messages, the friend told Flavio that he was not her type and promised that she was going to tell Tshepang.
She said Flavio claimed that she broke up with Tshepang.
Tshepang’s dismembered body parts were discovered inside Flavio’s fridge, in November 2021, by a woman identified as Flavio’s new girlfriend.
Days before Tshepang’s body parts were found, the friend said she was texting with Tshepang, but not certain whether it was her.
Meanwhile, Flavio has since told the court that he couldn’t remember the exact date the murder happened, saying it was between the 6th of November 2021 and the 13th of November 2021.
He pleaded guilty to all three charges against him – murder, defeating the ends of justice and violating a corpse.
The state, however, did not agree with his plea and called for Flavio to stand trial for a more serious charge of premeditated murder, stating that there’s evidence of violence prior to the murder.
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Earlier this week, the friend testified that Tshepang cried to her on several occasions about the abuse she endured at the hands of Flavio. She said Tshepang feared for her life.
The matter has been adjourned until 27 January.
