adminTinarwo was represented pro deo by Kwekwe lawyer Mrs L Mavhondo of Mvura-Mavhondo and Partners.
The State case as presented by Mrs Rossa Takuva was that on 31 March 2010, Tinarwo and Pascah Banda (aged 31 years at the time of his death) had a misunderstanding when Tinarwo served him a cold meal.
Mrs Takuva said the quarrel appeared to have ended and the two retired to bed at about 9 pm.
She said the following day, on 1 April 2011 at about 3am, Tinarwo woke up and struck Banda three times on the head with an axe.
Tinarwo further struck Banda once on the back using the same axe, resulting in his death.
In order to conceal the offence, Tinarwo removed the clothes that Banda had been wearing. She also removed the blankets and hid them in a bush near Cargil Company.
Mrs Takuva said Tinarwo dressed the body in another pair of shorts and ferried the body in a wheelbarrow for a distance of about 62 metres from the warehouse where they had been sleeping and dumped her husband’s body.
She said Tinarwo went on to make a report to the police that her husband had been murdered by unknown assailants.
Tinarwo also told the police that she discovered the body of her husband outside Sample Tech Company, Gweru.
The incident happened in Gweru’s heavy industrial areas when Tinarwo and Banda used to stay at the premises of his employers.
Police officers who gave evidence pointed out that there were some blood stains on Tinarwo’s skirt and trails of blood in the room where Tinarwo had been sleeping.
They also noted that there were some indications that there had been an attempt to remove blood from the room using a cloth and water.
The police also noted that there were some blood stains inside the room that Tinarwo slept with Banda, proving that the murder of Banda did not occur outside the room as had been alleged by Tinarwo.
It was also stated that when Banda’s body was recovered and the wounds shown, the police noted that Tinarwo did not show any signs of shock.
This led the investigating officer to become suspicious of Tinarwo’s conduct.
It also emerged during the course of the trial that Tinarwo had asked for the axe that she used to kill her husband from a childhood friend.
She told the friend, Ms Albertina Chamboko, who also featured as a State witness, that she wanted to use the axe to chop some firewood.
In her defence, Tinarwo said she was a young mother of two minor children aged four and two and that she had been married to Banda for six years.
Tinarwo told the court that Banda had developed a habit of not staying at home but on 31 March, he arrived home in the morning.
She said she complained to Banda that there was no firewood and food in the house.
Tinarwo also told the court that she asked her husband where he was spending his time since he was always away from home and had stopped guarding his employer’s property.
She said she reluctantly gave Banda some food that had been initially reserved for the children.
Tinarwo told the court that the two of them got so angry over the issue of cold food and her husband told her that he had learnt from his church that all his problems were being caused by her family members who had a curse, which was now hampering his progress in life.
She said she retorted that Banda’s relatives had always led a miserable life before she even married him.
Tinarwo said this infuriated Banda who then started assaulting her all over the body several times with fists and a piece of plank.
She said as Banda was assaulting her, he kept saying he wanted to kill her together with the children, as they were the source of his problems.
Tinarwo further alleged that she managed to wrest the piece of plank from Banda and fought back. She said Banda grabbed the axe and attempted to axe her but missed.
She said that was when she managed to forcefully take the axe from her husband and struck him several times with it.
Tinarwo said she later lit a fire in the warehouse since it did not have electricity as Banda lay still on the ground. She said she tried to revive Banda by pouring water on his body to no avail.
Tinarwo said when there was light in the room, that is when she discovered that she had struck Banda on the head, neck and back.
Online Reporter