Lance Watson and his accomplice Johannes Gerald are both likely to spend years behind bars for conspiracy to commit murder.
Putter was 20 years old when he was killed on May 16, 2011. His body was found lying in the veld next to Campbell Road in Boksburg North, with his throat slit.
Gerald was at the time the sole witness to the murder of Putter.
It emerged at the time that Gerald and Putter were best friends, and they were together when Putter was killed.
Gerald misleadingly told the police that he and his friend were walking along the veld, when four men he described as black males driving in a double cab 4×4 with ANC stickers on it accosted them.
The fabricated story dealt with Putter and the men arguing over the local government elections.
He went on to say the debate became heated, before the men got out of the vehicle and attacked them.
According to Gerald’s initial statement, in an attempt to escape the attack, they both ran in different directions but the attackers cornered Putter and killed him.
Investigators suspected that he was not telling the truth and they took Gerald back to the scene and questioned him again.
The witness eventually gave another account of the event, admitting to the police that his first statement was false.
He was then arrested and charged with perjury.
Following weeks of investigation by Const Det Meshack Masoma and his colleague Sgt Det Khutso Lefophane, a second man, Lance Watson, was eventually arrested in connection with the murder.
Watson was then charged with fraud and conspiracy to commit murder in the death of Putter.
The no-nonsense approach to the matter later revealed that with the help of Gerald, Watson apparently took out an insurance policy, pretending to be Putter.
It then became clear that Putter’s death was planned by the people who had taken out the insurance policy, and that they then tried to collect the R1-million insurance money.
Watson was recently found guilty on all counts, while Gerald was found guilty of perjury and conspiracy to commit murder.
The pair will be sentenced on May 4.
The Boksburg police congratulated both Lefophane and Masoma for their efforts. -@FanieFLK
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