adminTendai Chara
The confinement to a mental health institution of Alois Nduna, the Gokwe man who stunned the world when he alleged in court that he had raped, killed and drained the blood of 13 women, put a lid on one of the country’s most sensational crime stories. Although the case of the “Vampire Killer” has been put to rest, a lot of questions regarding his weird conduct remain unanswered.
In a case that left the nation spellbound, Nduna confessed to sucking blood from women in Midlands, Masvingo and Bulawayo. Those that were in attendance at the Masvingo magistrates’ courts during Nduna’s initial hearing listened in bewilderment as the self-proclaimed satanist gave a chilling account of how he had stalked and eventually murdered Beauty Hove, a Mashava woman.
Nduna claimed that he murdered his victim in the most horrendous of ways – by sucking her blood until she died. Among some of the killer’s hard-to-believe claims were assertions that drinking the blood of his victims made him stronger and claims that he received the instructions to do so from a church. In court, he faced 12 counts of murder and robbery. The source of the blood that Nduna allegedly oozed when he was in police cells in Mvuma remain a source of inconclusive debates. Two psychiatrists testified that Nduna was mentally ill, resulting in him being sent to a mental health sanctuary. But is Nduna, alias Jackson Moyo, the most prolific killer Zimbabwe has ever known?
Questions regarding the exact number of his victims remain, with suspicion that he might have deliberately inflated the figures. His case is also riddled with inconsistencies.
Although Nduna confessed that he attempted to kill Chido Gwasunda in Mvuma, Gwasunda insists that the person who tried to choke life out of her was not Nduna but one Ronald Nhamburo. Nhamburo was, however, cleared by the police.
The Sunday Mail Extra visited Matanga village in Gokwe, where Nduna is said to have been born. However, the trip drew blanks, raising suspicion over the serial killer’s true identity. When this publication requested to monitor Nduna, the Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services argued that doing so would be against legislation that protects the rights of mental health prisoners.
Mental health inmates, according to the ZCPS, can only be interviewed or monitored in the presence of their lawyers. Is the 26-year-old a satanist as he claimed or is he mentally ill?
The “Vampire Killer” obviously has answers to some of the nagging questions.
Online Reporter