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Crime Reporter
Police have been granted a warrant to further detain the suspected serial killer who this week appeared at the Harare Magistrates Court facing five counts of murder after investigators linked him to three more murder cases.
Thandolwenkosi Ndlovu (20) pleaded guilty to the five counts of murder when he appeared before Harare Magistrate Mr Dennis Mangosi.
Mr Mangosi said for the completion of the record, Ndlovu must be taken for indications after his arrest on Monday.
Investigations carried out have so far revealed that Ndlovu is also facing another three additional murder charges. In murder cases, the courts demand extra evidence than a mere confession.
The indications mean that the person charged, even if they admit to the crimes, need to show police what happened and where so that the whole case can be knit together.
This is why the police are allowed to keep him in their custody, so they can take him to the places where he said he killed people and the police can see how this matches what he told them after his arrest.
Sources close to the investigations yesterday revealed that Ndlovu could have killed more people, hence the need to apply for a warrant for his further detention.
On Tuesday, prosecutor Mr Zebediah Bofu told the court that police needed more time with Ndlovu, who is also facing one count of attempted murder, to complete investigations. He said there was need for indications, an identification parade and the recovery of weapons used to commit the murders.
Ndlovu was remanded in police custody to today. Police had earlier on said they had arrested a 20-year-old man who has been targeting and killing homeless people in the CBD.
They said Ndlovu is alleged to have killed five people in the city between August 28 and September 4.
Investigations have revealed that after killing, he would then boil or break parts of their body and consume them.
In a statement, national police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi said police suspect Ndlovu lived on the streets and targeted sleeping “street kids”.
Asst Comm Nyathi said on Monday police detectives tracked Ndlovu along Abdel Gamal Nasser Road (formerly Rotten Row), Harare after he allegedly tried to attack a “street kid” who did not bother to make a police report.
On arrested, the suspect was positively linked to five murder cases which occurred on 28th August at the corner of George Silundika Avenue and Simon Muzenda Street, Harare, on Friday last week at the corner of Mayor Urimbo Terrace (formerly Inez Terrace) and Robert Mugabe Road, Harare, on Sunday at the corner of Nelson Mandela Avenue and Seventh Street, Harare and on Monday at the corner of Cripps Road and Remembrance Road, Harare.
“The suspect has been linked to three murder cases committed in Bulawayo in 2020 where he crushed a victim’s head in Bellevue suburb using a brick after he found him drunk and asleep in his yard, in January 2020,” he said.
Further investigations revealed that in December 2020, he crushed a victim’s head in Makokoba Suburb after finding him asleep by the roadside.
He again crushed another victim’s head using stones at Sekhusile Shopping Centre, Nkulumane after finding him sleeping on the pavement.
He then fled to Harare.
The suspect is also facing a charge of attempted murder and has a warrant of arrest for a robbery case which occurred in Milton Park, Harare in June 2021.
“The Zimbabwe Republic Police has not found any evidence to link the recent murder cases committed by the suspect to ritual killings, said Asst Comm Nyathi.
“The police assure the public that enquiries are still being conducted to find out the real motive behind the suspect’s conduct and if he acted alone or not.”
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