girlfriend

Alutha Pasile, 25, was sentenced for the murder of his girlfriend, Nosicelo Mtebeni, in the East London High Court on Thursday 2 December. Photograph: National Prosecuting Authority

Boyfriend who cut up girlfriend’s body faces future in prison

Alutha Pasile, 25, researched the internet to find out how to chop up and dispose of his student girlfriend’s body after he killed her.

girlfriend

Alutha Pasile, 25, was sentenced for the murder of his girlfriend, Nosicelo Mtebeni, in the East London High Court on Thursday 2 December. Photograph: National Prosecuting Authority

Alutha Pasile has been sentenced to 25 years imprisonment for the murder of his 23-year-old University of Fort Hare girlfriend, who he killed and then hacked up her body to dispose of it in plastic bags. 

Pasile, 25, was sentenced for the murder of his girlfriend, Nosicelo Mtebeni, in the East London High Court on Thursday 2 December.

He was sentenced to an additional 10 years  imprisonment for  attempting to defeat the course of justice. 

This comes after his guilty plea and the court’s subsequent guilty verdict on Monday 29 November 2021. Pasile had earlier confessed how he had researched on the internet how to dispose of his girlfriend’s body, which led to him dismembering it, packing it in plastic packets and dumping it.

National Prosecuting Authority, Director of Public Prosecutions, Barry Madolo, welcomed the sentencing.

The minimum discretionary sentence for the count of murder is 15 years. In this case the court sentenced Pasile to a longer term of 25 years imprisonment. 

“I congratulate the investigating officer, Sergeant Njoli, who meticulously collected damning evidence which resulted in the accused having no other option but to admit guilt. I also wish to congratulate the prosecutor, Advocate Turner for presenting a compelling argument during aggravation of sentence which led the court to deviate from minimum discretionary sentence of 15 years to a more hefty sentence of 25 years imprisonment,” Madolo said.

In his guilty plea Pasile stated that he attacked Mtebeni after he discovered “I love you” and “I miss you” messages on her cellphone. He confronted her and accused her of cheating. Evidence presented by Senior State Advocate Nickie Turner during aggravation of sentencing, however, revealed that Pasile had in fact sent the messages to Mtebeni in 2019.

Pasile showed no remorse for murder of girlfriend

Advocate Turner stated that Pasile’s guilty plea was not a sign of remorse as the evidence against him was overwhelming. 

“He had no choice but to plead guilty to both counts in view of the fact that the hands and head of the deceased were found in his flat together with the equipment purchased by him for the purpose of dismembering her,” Turner said.

Judge Nomathansanqa Beshe concurred and questioned why Pasile had not shown remorse during the three days he spent trying to conceal the crime.

Turner  further presented evidence that instead of calling police for help after Mtebeni’s death, Pasile had sent a message to an acquaintance casually asking for a saw he could use to cut “something”. 

“The deceased was thereby reduced to a mere thing that was going to be cut for the self-serving purpose of avoiding detection,” Turner told the court.

She stressed that Pasile’s action of searching his girlfriend’s cellphone was a violation of her right to privacy. An action which showed that he thought that he owned her. “His self-interest and lack of empathy at her death is blood chilling and grotesque,” Turner said.