Former Port Elizabeth Constable Walter Francis and his co-accused pleaded not guilty in the Port Elizabeth High Court on Monday to murdering a state witness.
Francis is charged alongside Wayne Wabanie and Shamiel Gallant with the murder of Alex Ferreira, who was scheduled to testify as a Section 204 witness in a separate gang-related murder case, in which Francis’s gun was used.
In that case, which concluded in October last year, Francis was convicted on a charge of culpable homicide but acquitted on a murder charge. He is currently serving a six-year jail sentence.
The trio pleaded not guilty to charges which include murder, conspiracy to commit murder and the unlawful possession of firearms and ammunition.
During February 2017 Ferreira was gunned down in Bethelsdorp while visiting family and was not in protective custody.
According to the State, Francis allegedly used his own vehicle to drive Wabanie andGallant to execute Ferreira which he has denied in his plea explanation.
He also denied any knowledge of Ferreira’s killing and claimed that he only heard about the shooting through his mother.
The legal representation for Wabanie and Gallant both indicated that their defence would be that of an alibi.
The trial continues.
-African News Agency (ANA)
(Pic: Facebook)
