Cop admits no call to suspect's phone

THE investigating officer testifying at the trial of a Pretoria teacher accused of murdering his lover, a Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University student, in 2011, told the court yesterday that despite a desperate search to find the man he did not call his cellphone to contact him.

Detective Warrant Officer Arthur Smouse said he had the phone number of the accused in the police docket but instead of calling the man he travelled to Pretoria and went, in vain, to his place of employment and his home.

Port Elizabeth police attempted to track down Mutshutshu Muvhango, 31, from June 2011 until his eventual arrest in September of that year. According to witness reports Muvhango was the last person to be seen with Tshepiso Sithole, 18, a first-year civil engineering student. -  Lee-Anne Butler