adminPamela Shumba Senior Reporter
BULAWAYO magistrate Enias Magate yesterday concluded that the death of former British Special Services soldier (SAS) Robert Wood, who was found hanging two years ago, was due to suicide.Wood, 54, was found hanging in the spare bedroom of a rented Four Winds home which he shared with his Zimbabwean mistress, Gugulethu Henrietta Dube, between March 9 and 10, 2012.
Wood’s brother Ian Wood had alleged that Dube killed the former soldier so that she could inherit the late Briton’s lucrative gold mine just outside Bulawayo.
The former British soldier’s brother had mainly based his assertion on a will Dube was alleged to have forged in order to give her total control of the business.
However, yesterday magistrate Magate said no foul play was suspected in the former SAS member’s death.
“There was no evidence linking Dube or any other person to the death of Robert Wood. There was no evidence to support Ian Wood’s assertion that his brother was killed by Dube. What Ian said were bald assertions emanating from hearsay evidence which he heard from some people who were not even called as witnesses in the inquest hearing,” said the magistrate.
Magate said the majority of witnesses who testified did not enlighten or assist the court as to how Wood died. The witnesses include Dube, her grandmother Esnath Moyo, the couple’s friends Mandlenkosi Nkala and Nkosilathi Dube, gardener Blessing Sibanda and the investigating police officer Constable Willard Kuimba.
The magistrate said the only evidence which was available to the court to determine how Wood met his fate was the independent expert opinion of Dr Sanganayi Pesanayi, who concluded that the death was due to suicide.
“Dr Pesanayi told the court that Wood’s face and lower limb were blue, which is a sign of asphyxia or lack of oxygen. Furthermore, he also took the specimen for histology to a pathologist and it came back showing that the lungs showed marked congestion.
“He also testified that the raptured veins on Wood’s scrotum could have ruptured during hanging. He also told the court that the belt around Wood’s neck was very tight,” said Magate.
Magate said Dr Pesanayi also told the court that Wood’s left ventricle of the heart was slightly enlarged while the blood vessels showed slight hardening and the iron bone (bone on the throat) was fractured.
Wood’s lungs, he added, were congested with excess fluid while his stomach was empty but had a smell of alcohol. The magistrate said the court did not read anything from the will allegedly forged by Dube as its authenticity was not subjected to legal determination by a competent court.
“Accordingly, Ian Wood’s allegations amounted to bald assertions,” he said.
The inquest into Wood’s death opened in May after his brother suspected foul play arguing that the former soldier had no reason to hang himself.
Wood was found hanging on a burglar bar in a spare bedroom while Dube was in a separate room.
His neck was tied with a brown leather belt to the burglar bar, while his left leg was suspended in the air, with the right leg resting on a stretcher bed.
There was blood on his private parts.
Online Reporter