‘Wood involved in fight before death’

Auxilia Katongomara Court Reporter
THE mistress of a former British commando found hanged at their rented home in Bulawayo’s Four Winds suburb two years ago, yesterday told an inquest into his death that the ex-SAS man had been fighting some people a few hours before his tragic death.Gugulethu Henrietta Dube, during cross examination by prosecutor Jerry Mutsindikwa at the Tredgold Magistrate Courts, said Alexander Robert Wood had sent her a text message informing her he was fighting some people.

She said Wood had arrived from Harare on the eve of his death.

According to Dube, the couple was not on talking terms at that time as Wood spent more time with his friends.

“When Rob came from Harare, he told me to wait for him at Lancet House where he was going for blood tests because he had suffered a heart problem. The tests were done and he suggested we go to a carwash to get the car cleaned,” she said. Dube said on arrival at the carwash, he asked one of their friends to accompany him to a city bar where he was to meet their lawyer.

“I remained at the carwash with our friends and that is when he called and told me that the lawyer did not turn up so Mbuso, the one who had dropped him, should come and pick him up.

“When he came to collect the vehicle, he looked somehow unhappy but did not want to divulge any information. He then said he did not want to be at the carwash anymore and he drove off and left me drinking with some friends,” she said.

Dube, who claims to have been customarily married to Wood, said she tried getting in touch with him several times but he was not responding to her calls.

This forced her to search for him at three different locations in Bulawayo where he used to frequent.

“I then called the taxi driver Mandlenkosi Nkala and Nkosilathi Dube to come and pick me up at the carwash and drove to BAC (Bulawayo Athletic Club) where we waited for him. When I texted him he told me he was fighting other people and I still have that message in my phone”.

Dube said the late Wood later joined them at BAC but was visibly drunk.

He continued drinking and choosing not to sit with them. At some point, he went to chat to the owner of the pub but later suggested that they leave the place at 11PM.

“Nkosilathi and Mandla drove us home and on our arrival he wanted us to continue drinking but they refused and went away.
“I then proceeded to sleep as he went into the kitchen to take his medication. I was anticipating that he would come and join me,” said Dube.

She said Wood slept in a spare room and was shocked to find him hanging from a window around 9AM the following day.

Mutsindikwa asked if it was normal for the couple to sleep in separate rooms and Dube said there was nothing amiss as they often did that, particularly during their stay in South Africa.

Dube also revealed that it was Wood’s first night in the house since they were new occupants.

Mutsindikwa then asked if the car and the doors to the house had been locked and she said she was not sure as she immediately retired to bed on their arrival hoping that Wood would have locked them.

“The car was parked in a secure garage even though it was not locked and I think maybe he locked the doors of the house,” Dube said.

She told the court that when she found Wood hanging from the window, she rushed to call the gardener Blessing Sibanda.

Dube said Wood was hanging from a window with the buckle of a clipped belt tied to the burglar bar. She declined to shed more details when asked to describe further the scene of the incident, saying she could not remember anything as she was both shocked and grieving at the same time.

The state counsel asked whether she identified the belt that was used by Wood to hang himself and she replied in the affirmative.

Dube said the belt had been in the car with the rest of their clothes when they got home but did not know how it had got into the house.

Ian Wood, brother to Robert, told Dube that the will she alleges she found among Wood’s belongings was forged as two of the witnesses had disowned it and asked her to respond to that.

Dube was adamant that she discovered it among Wood’s documents in South Africa. She said her grandmother Esnath Moyo was a signatory to many of Wood’s documents.

However, in an affidavit produced in court, Moyo denied signing the contested will that gives Dube more shares.

Another witness, a friend to the late Wood, John Cooper, who is in prison in the United Kingdom, is reported to be denying that the signature on the will is his.

The court was adjourned to Monday where Moyo, police officers and other experts are expected to be cross examined.