Tinomutenda Midzi in Mutare
27 April 2017, MUTARE – Lovemore Mlambo Mafukidze of Matsotso homestead in Chipinge was last week hit with a 22-year jail sentence for murdering 79-year-old Marambeni Sithole of Chimene village under Chief Musikavanhu.
Sitting on circuit, Justice Charles Hungwe found the accused guilty of murder as defined in section 47(1) or (b) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act.
It was the State’s case that on July 26, 2015, Mafukidze, in the company of Josiah Simango, who is still at large, went to the now deceased’s homestead and found her sleeping in her bedroom hut and began to assault her.
Fate had it that the victim dropped her Samsung phone which was of a similar make to that of Mafukidze. Thinking it was his friend’s phone, Simango picked the phone and gave it to Mafukidze with the two mistakenly leaving Mafukidze’s actual phone at the scene.
On the same day around 2000hrs, the body of the deceased was discovered by James Mlambo and Spiwe Mangana who had been asked to check on Sithole by her daughter, Ellen Mhlanga, who had become worried after her mother’s phone had gone unanswered for too long.
Samuel Sithole, the deceased’s relative, found a Samsung cell phone and a Telecel sim card beside the corpse. The sim card was later found to be owned by one Dakarai Mlambo Masori.
Masori revealed he had given the sim card to Mafukidze who was then approached by villagers and found in possession of the now deceased’s phone.
The accused person led the villagers to one Simon Makuyana’s homestead where he had hidden the deceased’s sim card.
A report was made to the police on the July 28, 2015 leading to the arrest of the accused.
Malvern Musarurwa appeared for the state.local
