”Lion Man” Nelson Chisale’s killers were convicted of his murder on Thursday, more than a year and three months after he was viciously beaten with pangas and then fed to lions at the Mokwalo White Lion Project, near Hoedspruit.
Mark Scott-Crossley (37) and Simon Mathebula (41) were each found guilty on a charge of murder in the sixth week of their trial, which started on January 24 and in which the testimony of 23 witnesses was heard.
Both had pleaded not guilty to the crime.
Judge George Maluleke, who heard the case with assessors Kate Choshi and Elphus Seemela, also decided that the testimony of a fourth accused turned state witness, Robert Mnisi, was sufficiently honest and truthful to indemnify him from prosecution.
A final accused, Richard Mathebula (41), will stand trial separately, after he recovers from the suspected tuberculosis for which he has been hospitalised. He has also pleaded not guilty, but has not yet testified.
All that was found of Chisale in the encampment was a shaft of long bones, a skull with no mandible, fragments of rib, vertebrae, a pelvic girdle and a finger, his shredded shirt and a ripped pair of khaki trousers.
His remains were buried at his birthplace at Maboloka village, in Brits, North West, last March, after a court found that the dignity of his family outweighed the right of his alleged killers to a fair trial.
The court finding followed an urgent application by the defence to stop the funeral to enable a forensic pathologist to perform tests on his bones to determine the time and cause of his death. — Sapa