The man accused of stabbing US citizen Phillips Olagoke Allen Bakare to death at the Atlantic Point Backpackers in Green Point has been deemed a flight risk.
Also read: Suspect accused of murdering US citizen tried to escape custody
On Tuesday, Prosecutor Ricardo Swarts told the Cape Town Magistrates’ Court that the status of the 27-year-old is ‘a problem for the State’.
Gedeon Tshimowa, a Congolese national, handed an affidavit to the investigating officers to verify an alternative address for him on Tuesday. ‘It is for the purpose of verification. It was handed to the court this morning [Tuesday]; the investigation officer would need an opportunity to verify this address physically,’ Swarts said.
‘There are two findings from Home Affairs; one indicates that there are no records based on the name, permit and details he gave to the police upon his arrest.
‘The status of the accused is a problem for the State.’
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Although Tshimowa has a visa that is valid until 15 November, the ‘picture on the refugee status doesn’t correspond with the accused’, Swart added.
‘There is a different picture to the one on the permit that he originally gave to the police. So that needs to be clarified. This was relayed to the accused.
‘To be clear, one of the accused’s pictures says he is illegal in the country, the printout that says the accused has a valid permit has a different picture.’
News24 reports that the State is opposing Tshimowa’s bail application.
‘While being arrested for this matter, the accused attempted to escape custody and had to be re-apprehended. So, he poses a flight risk, the State would submit,’ Swarts stated.
Tshimowa’s previous attorney withdrew from the case before it even started. According to his new lawyer, the alternative address he (Tshimowa) provided to the court belonged to a family member who agreed to take him in during the trial.
‘The issue of status, my client has confirmed that the picture on the visa is him,’ she said.
According to the investigating officer, there is video footage that supports the notion that the murder was premeditated. Tshimowa reportedly shook his head when this was revealed in court.
‘With regards to the instruction received [from my client], we are not in agreement with what the State is alleging,’ his attorney said. ‘We haven’t had an opportunity to view the footage for an assessment to be made with regards to the allegations.’
She also added that Tshimowa did not agree with the State on whether the murder was premeditated. ‘How the incident happened could not have been premeditated. There was a fight that ensured between the parties. There is no premeditated murder.’
The case was postponed to 12 March for his bail application.
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Also read:
American citizen stabbed to death at Green Point backpackers
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