Profile photo via Facebook: @Pitch-black-Afro
Pitch Black Afro to remain in custody until May while investigation continues
After several postponements since Pitch Black Afro’s arrest in January 2019, the South African muso heard that he will remain behind bars until May.
Profile photo via Facebook: @Pitch-black-Afro
Investigators need more time to look at Pitch Black Afro’s – real name Thulani Ngcobo – cellphone records. He was denied bail and will remain behind bars until his next court appearance on 24 May.
Ngcobo’s case had been postponed several times since his arrest, and the court failed on more than one occasion to procure a pathologist. Eventually, Magistrate Paul Du Plessis was forced to subpoena the pathologist who examined Ngcobo’s wife’s body.
The 41-year-old Trisha Modisane’s body was found in a Bed & Breakfast in Bellevue after the couple celebrated New Year’s Eve with their friends.
Detectives working on the case have gathered enough evidence to prove that it may have been Ngcobo who murdered his wife in a fit of rage.
Several injuries were noted in the report, which confirmed that Modisane died of blunt force trauma. However, Ngcobo’s legal team claims the deceased sustained the bruises days before her death.
Timeline of Ngcobo’s trial
31 December 2018: Trisha Modisane’s body was found in an apartment in Bellevue. Friends claim the couple had an argument the previous night.
9 January 2019: Captain Sifiso Mabizela confirmed that an inquest docket had been opened. Ngcobo was arrested later that day.
11 January: Ngcobo appeared in court on murder charges and applied for Legal Aid. The case was postponed until the investigating officer could verify Ngcobo’s home address.
18 January: Ngcobo appears in court again. He posed for cameras and laughed maniacally. He did not look remorseful at all. The case was postponed to allow for Ngcobo to file an affidavit.
7 February: Ngcobo’s lawyer Meshack Maluleke motioned for the case to be postponed once more while his legal team has to secure the services of a pathologist.
21 February: The pathologist failed to appear, and the case was postponed for a fourth time. Magistrate Du Plessis said the state would subpoena the pathologist, instructing him to attend the proceedings during the next court date.
14 March: Court proceedings were postponed for a fifth time. This marks the third time a delay has been issued due to the whereabouts of this pathologist. The state’s pathologist was issued with a warrant of arrest.
20 March: The court heard that the pathologist would return to South Africa from Tanzania on Sunday 24 March, and the case was postponed a sixth time.
25 March: Ngcobo appeared in the Johannesburg Magistrates court. The pathologist testified, and Ngcobo’s bail application was denied. Ngcobo was to remain in custody until 12 April for a court date to be set.
