Friends of suspected serial killer speak

Simba Mooketsi Mampori, 31, is a shocker to his childhood friends. They say he grew up as a humble and intelligent man from Mbalambi village of North East. He is currently trending for repeated murders of his girlfriends, the latest being Matlhogonolo Mashashu, 34, with whom he had a two year-old child. He allegedly stabbed her with a screwdriver inside his sister’s rented house in Bontleng. He was caught by the police after trying and failing to hang himself in Mankgodi village. According to his childhood friends, he was a straight A student at primary school. One of them Bobo Malinga wrote on Facebook and said that Mampori always advocated for education and encouraged them to be diligent in their studies. “He was always in the top 3 in class. We also liked his humility and quiet spirit,” she said. Another one Omphile Mmusi responded and said he knows him from secondary school and that he was a loving person who was also likeable. “He respected everyone. We all respected him. Girls found him charming. Clearly he was hiding some bad qualities such as anger,” he said, adding that Mampori clearly did not know how to handle disagreements in his love affairs. “If he can kill more than two women, it shows he lacked emotional intelligence,” he said. Majority were shocked that the responsible man they know from Mbalambi grew up into a murderer. Mampori is also linked to another murder that occurred on 26 March in Gaborone in which a 39 year-old woman from Molepolole was found with stab wounds. At the time of his arrest, Mampori was awaiting trial for two murder cases committed in Mahalapye and Gaborone in 2016 and 2017 respectively. He is said to have lost his job at Botswana Defence Force as a result of his pending murder cases.