Murder-accused VIP cop wants bail
A VIP cop, accused of killing his wife and daughter, has requested bail so that he can claim from his insurance.
|||Pretoria - A murder-accused police officer attached to the elite Presidential Protection Services told the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court on Monday that he wants to be released on bail.
This was shortly after his lawyer told the court that he was seeking a postponement in the case, so that the bail application would be brought at a later stage.
When the Chief Magistrate Desmond Nair spoke to Benedict Peloeole directly, the police warrant officer said he wanted to push for bail on Monday.
“My wife’s family has buried her. I would want to launch a claim with my insurers so that I can make a financial [contribution for the burial costs],” said Peloeole.
Nair adjourned the matter, giving Peloeole and his lawyer time to consult.
Peloeole initially appeared in the same court last week facing double murder charges.
The warrant officer was arrested for allegedly murdering his wife and daughter at their home in Pretoria.
The Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) is investigating the circumstances around the shootings.
“It was alleged that the officer, from the Pretoria protection unit at the Union Buildings, shot his 23-year-old daughter and his 42-year-old wife at their home in Pretoria West,” Ipid spokeswoman Grace Langa said last week.
“It is alleged the couple had disagreements in the morning before the officer left for his cousin’s funeral arrangement,
“When he returned home in the evening, it is alleged he asked his wife to cook for him,” said Langa.
While the wife was cooking, he allegedly went to another room where he fetched a firearm and went back to shoot his wife and their daughter, said Langa.
After killing the two, he put his service pistol back in the safe and took his 17-year-old son and his nephew, who were also in the house at the time, to his neighbours.
He asked the neighbour to drive him to the police station, where he was arrested immediately.
ANA