A man who killed and cut up the daughter of a UK nurse and then stored the arms and legs in the freezer until they were found by his horrified new lover has been given a life sentence.
Brutal Flavio Hlabangwane, 28, was found guilty of the murder of his ex-girlfriend, 23-year-old Tshepang Pitse, at his rented home in Soweto, in South Africa, between October and 13th November 2021. She was also reportedly his cousin.
Hlabangwane said he killed Pitse over an alleged argument about a bank card by pushing her head against the stove and then stabbing her in the neck but the court found in addition that the brutal murder was premeditated.
After the murder, he reportedly dismembered her body and kept her arms and legs stored in the freezer.
He was arrested after his horrified new girlfriend discovered the stored body parts inside his fridge.
She immediately alerted neighbours and the police and Hlabangwe was arrested.
Hlabangwe reportedly admitted to the murder which he even confessed to planning ahead because she had allegedly cheated on him.
During a psychiatric evaluation, Hlabangwe also admitted that he searched online for ways to kill Pitse and “the quickest ways to dispose of the corpse”.
Hlabangwe told the court: “On 6th October, the deceased and I met at the house, we sat and spoke. I then left, taking her bank card to go to buy food without asking her first.
“When I came back, the deceased confronted me about this and this started an argument between us, which at the time created an opportunity for me to kill her as planned.”
He also said he struggled to sleep alone in the house while he had her body parts stored in the freezer.
Hlabangwe was found guilty of premeditated murder and ordered to serve out a life sentence in prison.
He was also sentenced to 10 years for defeating the ends of justice and an additional 15 years for violating a corpse.
Judge Cassim Moosa said the sentences will run concurrently.
The victim’s uncle, identified only as Edward in local media, welcomed the killer’s sentence and said he is satisfied with the judge’s decision.
Edward said: “We are not going to get our child back, but we are happy that justice has been served.”
Pitse’s uncle claimed he believes the murderer does not feel any remorse for taking Pitse’s life.
He added that Hlabangwane still refuses to tell the family where the rest of the victims’ body parts are.
Edward said: “He should tell us why he killed her and where the torso is so that we can get closure.”
The spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), Phindi Mjonondwane, said it is only through life sentences that the number of killed women will stop rising.
Pitse’s mum, who used to work as a nurse in the UK, was also murdered under mysterious circumstances back in 2014.
Mjonondwane added: “More and more women die at the hands of men who are supposed to protect them.
“The NPA is up to the task to vigorously prosecute those who undermine the right to life and rule of law.”
