A lawyer representing war veteran Albert Ncube and his friend Robert Nyathi, charged with the murder of Nyamandlovu farmer Elizabeth Gloria Olds, has formally applied for his clients’ discharge, arguing the State had failed to prove a prima facie case against them.
Report by Richard Muponde Senior Court Reporter
NewsDay yesterday learnt that the suspects’ lawyer Brighton Ndowe submitted the application before High Court judge Justice Maphios Cheda last week.
The State has filed its opposing affidavit to the latest application.
The matter now awaits Justice Cheda’s verdict.
Olds (72) was allegedly shot dead alongside her three dogs at the height of the land invasions in 2001.
Ncube and Nyathi were later arrested and charged with her murder. The pair is also facing charges of kidnapping Olds’ employee, Foster Moyo, a day before they allegedly committed the murder.
They have since denied both charges.
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The State alleged that on March 4, 2001 at about 6:45am, the pair stormed Olds’ Silverstream Farm and fatally shot her and her dogs at close range.
Olds’ employees heard the gunshot sound coming from the direction of the farmhouse and one of them, Mpimpi Moyo, went to investigate and found her employer’s body lying in a pool of blood with visible gunshot wounds.
Besides her body lay carcasses of her three dogs, which were also shot dead during her alleged murder.
Moyo made a police report and investigations led to the pair’s arrest.
