Robert Chisi, 27, Lehlohonolo Motlomelo, 33, and Thabo Michael Lebofa, 28, were sentenced to life in prison for the robbery and murder of their boss Leighton Frank Agg in September 2020 by the Durban High Court.
On Thursday, the trio were sentenced to an additional 20 years in jail for robbery with aggravating circumstances. Leighton was murdered by the three of them.
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The three killed Leighton Frank Agg who lived alone in a property that he was renovating for commercial purposes. Leighton and his father, Frank Agg were in business together where they refurbished old houses and sold them.
Chisi and Motlomelo chipped the construction walls that were to be plastered for them. Natasha Ramkisson-Kara, spokesman for the KZN National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), stated that Leighton notified them at some point that he would be hiring expert plasterers.
Kara said, “This angered them as believed that the job was theirs. Therefore they hatched a plan to rob and murder him by recruiting Lebofa who was a friend of Motlomelo. They even created a WhatsApp group called ‘Hustlers,’ where they communicated with each other.
She added that on the day of the incident, they attacked Leighton in his garage and tortured him to reveal the PIN codes to his bank accounts after he did, they strangled him with an electric cord and bludgeoned him to death with a hammer.”
Kara disclosed that the three criminals stole their victim’s smartphones, laptop, and wallet, which contained his credit cards, and then went on a shopping spree.
“Lebofa then drove Leighton’s bakkie (with the body inside) to the Greytown area, where it was dumped in a river. He abandoned the vehicle at the Market Road offramp near Pietermaritzburg, after stripping off the registration plates and licence disc.
“The men then transferred money from Leighton’s bank account, made withdrawals, and went on a shopping spree using his bank card,” she added.
The police later recovered Leighton’s body, according to Kara.
She said, “Upon questioning, Chisi revealed his involvement in the crime. Agg senior then enlisted the assistance of a private investigator who traced the other two men using cellphone tracking data.”
Nadira Moosa, Senior State Advocate, led the evidence of Chisi’s statement, as well as cellphone data and evidence of financial activities reflected on Leighton’s bank statement.
Moosa successfully argued in court that the sentence for the robbery charges should be increased from the stipulated minimum of 15 years to 20 years.
The state also provided a Victim Impact Statement, which was produced by Agg senior and assisted by Court Preparation Officer Thandeka Nadi Mofokeng.
Agg senior noted in his statement that his son’s death rocked their entire family and that they are still in mourning. He claims he still can’t sleep and that the events surrounding his son’s murder will haunt him for the rest of his life.
The three of them received life sentences for murder and 20 years in jail for robbery with aggravating circumstances.
