adminPatrick Chitumba Midlands Bureau Chief
A MAN who killed his wife after allegedly finding her on the phone talking to another man was branded a liar by a judge yesterday. Thembinkosi Gumbi, of Mbizo in Kwekwe, bashed his wife with a blunt object on December 29, 2013, over suspicions that she was cheating on him.
Nyarai Moyo, 28, suffered brain damage and a depressed skull from the vicious attack.
Justice Lawrence Kamocha, sitting at the Gweru High Court Circuit, said Gumbi’s claims of his wife’s infidelity were an after-thought as he had not indicated to the police at the time of his arrest or to the magistrate at the time of the confirmation of his warned and cautioned statement that he had assaulted his wife after she confessed to having an affair with a man named Lloyd.
“I can’t buy that. You didn’t indicate to the police or the magistrate that your wife was on the phone with another man,” the judge told Gumbi after hearing his new defence.
“The police read you your statement before you signed it and the magistrate also asked you if what was in the statement was all and you said ‘yes’. Now you’re saying that you were provoked by your wife who confessed an adulterous affair. No!”
Justice Kamocha said the allegations that his wife had confessed were too vital to be missed by Gumbi.
He said he had kept quiet because that had not happened.
“You’re saying this as an after-thought. But it’s not in the statement. Why did you sign it when it was missing important details?” queried the judge.
The court heard that Gumbi had a quarrel with Moyo at around 11PM on December 29, 2013, which ended with her unconscious after he bashed her on the head with a car shock absorber.
Moyo had locked herself in a car to escape Gumbi’s rage, but he smashed the vehicle’s windows and dragged her outside. He banged her head against the tarmac and bludgeoned her with the shock absorber. When she tried to flee, he chased after her and threw her to the ground before continuing the vicious assault until she passed out.
Moyo, the court heard, was admitted at Kwekwe Hospital and later referred to Parirenyatwa in Harare where she died on January 5.
Justice Kamocha postponed judgment to today.
For the State, Chief Law Officer Rosa Takuva said Gumbi was the aggressor and had a history of being violent.
She urged the court to return a verdict of murder with constructive intent.
“The assault on Moyo was prolonged and brutal and the State is seeking a verdict of murder with constructive intent,” she said.
Online Reporter