Zimbabwe: Judge Says ‘Visit Was Premeditated’ As Two Men Convicted of 2021 Murder of Gweru Villager

The High Court has convicted Perfect Nyathi and Ntabiso Ncube of the 2021 murder of Lower Gweru villager Bernard Dube, ruling that the only reasonable conclusion from the circumstantial evidence was that the two men were part of a premeditated killing.

Justice Bongani Ndlovu, sitting at the Gweru High Court, found both men guilty of murder with actual intent after rejecting their alibis as false and inconsistent.

“It is for those reasons that we find that the State has proven its case against each one of the accused persons… and each one of them, that is, Perfect Nyathi and Ntabiso Ncube, is found guilty as charged,” the judge ruled.

The pair had denied murdering Dube, who was gunned down at his homestead in Lower Gweru on June 3, 2021, after armed men posing as visitors forced their way into his home before opening fire.

According to the State, one assailant demanded to speak to Dube privately before producing a pistol. After Dube’s wife struck the gunman with a brick, the attackers retreated outside and repeatedly shot Dube in the abdomen and thigh. They later returned and sprayed the house with bullets before fleeing.

Dube died from hypovolemic shock caused by gunshot wounds, according to a post-mortem report.

The prosecution relied entirely on circumstantial evidence.

Nyathi was arrested about a kilometre from the murder scene shortly after the shooting while driving a vehicle without number plates. Police recovered a pistol holster from the vehicle, while Ncube was arrested two months later in Bulawayo after allegedly dropping a Sarsilmaz pistol during a shootout with police. Ballistics experts linked the firearm to Dube’s murder.

Ndlovu said the court exercised caution because the case depended on circumstantial evidence, but found that every significant aspect of the defence had collapsed under scrutiny.

“It should be pointed out at this stage that reliance on circumstantial evidence is a dicey reliance by the State. It is equally dicey when it comes to convicting an accused person. The court should not lightly find that the offence has been proven on circumstantial evidence without exercising caution.”

The judge rejected Nyathi’s explanation that he had travelled from Gwanda to transport a man identified only as Prince Moyo, finding his account riddled with contradictions.

“He who tells the truth does not tell various reasons. He who lies will tell one version.”

The court noted that Nyathi gave different accounts of where he had dropped his passenger and failed to locate the alleged Prince Moyo despite having been on bail for nearly three years.

“It will not be an unreasonable inference therefore to say only he who has heard his mind depart him will not look for the person who can save him from the mess he finds himself in.”

Ndlovu concluded that the mysterious passenger either never existed or was part of the murder plot.

“We therefore find it a proven fact that the explanation regarding Prince by accused number one is, beyond a reasonable doubt, a lie.”

The judge also dismissed Nyathi’s challenge to the recovery of the pistol holster, accepting police evidence that it was found in the glove compartment of his vehicle shortly after the murder.

“We therefore find it proven that the holster… was found in the glove compartment of the motor vehicle that was driven by accused person number one, a kilometre away from the scene of the crime, within two hours of the occurrence of the crime.”

Turning to Ncube, Justice Ndlovu rejected his claim that he had merely been caught in crossfire while visiting his girlfriend in Bulawayo.

“Victims don’t run away unless they run away from something criminal.”

The judge found that Ncube’s account of how he sustained gunshot wounds was inconsistent with his warned and cautioned statement and his defence outline.

“The explanation by accused number two of how he was injured, which led to his arrest, is, beyond a reasonable doubt, false.”

Although warning that identification evidence is “an unruly horse,” the court held that the surrounding evidence overwhelmingly corroborated police testimony linking Ncube to the murder weapon.

The Sarsilmaz pistol allegedly dropped by Ncube during the Luveve shootout matched cartridge cases recovered at Dube’s murder scene and was also linked through ballistic examinations to several armed robberies in Matabeleland South.

Ndlovu said there was only one logical conclusion from the evidence against both men.

“The only reasonable inference from the proven facts in respect of accused person number one is that he was somehow involved in the murder of the now deceased.”

Regarding Ncube, the judge added: “The only reasonable inference to draw from the proven facts is that the accused person number two was involved in the murder of Bernard Dube.”

The court said the manner in which the attack was carried out demonstrated careful planning and an intention to kill.

“The visit to the scene was premeditated. The modus operandi of entry into the homestead of the deceased was premeditated, deceitful, and executed… That can only be a murder with actual intent.”

Nyathi and Ncube were both convicted of murder as charged. Sentencing is expected to follow.

By New Zimbabwe.