A CHEGUTU couple is expected to stand trial at the High Court in Harare charged with murder for allegedly forcing a man to drink a poisonous herbicide after accusing him of labelling the couple’s husband a thief in 2011.
Report by Charles Laiton
The accused couple, Lovemore Katayamaoko and Elsie Chibanda, allegedly struck the now deceased, who was not identified in court papers, with a claw bar killing him instantly.
Yesterday, Katayamaoko appeared before Justice Felistus Chatukuta for trial, but the matter failed to proceed as it turned out that his wife, Chibanda, who is out on bail, had not been served with summons by police for purposes of indictment for trial.
The matter was, however, postponed indefinitely while awaiting Chibanda’s indictment.
The alleged incident occurred at plot number 7 Moulton Estate in Chegutu.
At the time of the commission of the alleged offence, the couple was employed at the estate by the deceased’s younger brother Edward Musafare Zvoma.
On the day in question, it is alleged Katayamaoko, who was staying with the now deceased, confronted him over allegations he had made that he (Katayamaoko) had stolen his money.
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Katayamaoko reportedly tied the now deceased’s hands from the back and took him to his bedroom where he took a bottle containing paraquart liquid (a pesticide) and forced him to drink before kicking him in the face.
The State alleged Katayamaoko proceeded to strike the deceased several times with a claw bar on the stomach, legs and ribs, killing him instantly.
It is alleged the couple took the body to his bedroom, hid it under the bed, stole his maize and clothes before disappearing from the scene. The deceased’s body was discovered by police two days after the incident when his sister Sarah reported him missing.
The couple was eventually arrested in December last year and the husband was denied bail.
