Chronicle Editor
Midlands Bureau
HIGH Court Judge, Justice Munamato Mutevedzi, last Friday handed a Shurugwi man two life sentences for murdering two girlfriends in separate incidents, targeting their vehicles and cash.
The accused, Emmanuel Mahembe, callously disposed of the bodies, burying one in a riverbed and discarding the other in a disused mine shaft.
Mahembe appeared before Justice Mutevedzi, who was sitting at the Gweru High Court circuit, facing two counts of murder.
He pleaded not guilty to murder but was convicted after a full trial for murder with actual intent.
It was the State case that sometime between August 2021 and September 2022, Mahembe met the now deceased, Patricia Mutero and proposed love to her. Mutero and Mahembe became romantically involved. In September 2022, the duo were at Donga Business Centre in Shurugwi.
Mahembe, the court heard, then drove Mutero’s motor vehicle, a Honda fit to Dhanga Dip Tank where he murdered her, wrapped the body in a blanket and buried it along Gwamamvura riverbed before driving off in her motor vehicle.
He later sold the motor vehicle.
In another case in 2021, Mahembe met Idah Chigumbete and proposed love to her. The two became romantically involved and on May 22, 2021, the two drove off to the second deceased’s sister’s home in Shurugwi. Along the way, the two had a misunderstanding over money.
The argument escalated and Mahembe murdered Chigumbete and dumped the body in a disused mine shaft at Mutevekwi Bridge.
After killing Chigumbete, Mahembe started using the deceased’s EcoCash account and diverted the money to his personal use. He continued driving around Chigumbete’s Honda Fit.
The murder came to light when Chigumbete’s relatives became suspicious and alerted police, leading to the arrest of the accused person. Mahembe got a life sentence for each murder.
Meanwhile, a Gweru woman who returned home early from an all-night church prayer and killed her husband’s lover after finding them in a compromising position on her matrimonial bed, has been sentenced to 10 years in jail for murder. Stacy Thokozani Mkandla (34) was sentenced by High Court Judge, Justice Naison Chivayo sitting at the Gweru High Court circuit.
The court heard that Mkandla stabbed Brightness Phiri (27) with a kitchen knife once on the right side of the head, once on the breast and once on the back.
She had caught Phiri half-naked in her matrimonial bed with her husband Tafadzwa Emmanuel Munyoro. The incident happened in February. Circumstances are that Mkandla returned from an all-night prayer and found Munyoro with Phiri half-naked on her matrimonial bed.
Mkandla attacked Phiri with her fists and went to the kitchen where she came back armed with a knife.
Munyoro took the knife from her and he left the room leaving Mkandla arguing with Phiri.
Mkandla returned to the kitchen and armed herself with another knife that she used to stab Phiri once on the right side of the head, once on the breast and once on the back. Phiri fled from the house and collapsed and died on the street. A police report was filed leading to Mkandla’s arrest.
Online Reporter