A woman hired assassins and paid them N36, 000 ($100) to kill her boyfriend over allegations of abuse.
39-year-old Loice Mahlamvana, a Zimbabwean, paid her ex-boyfriend, Chenjerai Zhou, 37, and Tavonga Shoko, 29, $50 each to murder Munakiishe Chinyoka, 42.
The duo were said to have killed Chinyoka, burned his body before throwing the remains into a dam.
According to reports in various Zimbabwean media, Mahlamvana said she no longer loves Chinyoka but he refused to accept this. She claimed she was Chinyoka’s girlfriend until sometime last November when their relationship turned sour after he started accusing her of having many boyfriends and allegedly started assaulting her.
On November 29, Mahlamvana allegedly hired Zhou and Shoko to kill Chinyoka and paid them $50 each. The assassins followed Chinyoka home from a pub to Mahlamvana’s house.
The now deceased entered Mahlamvana’s house and after a few minutes, Zhou and Shoko followed and found him sleeping on the floor.
Chinyoka was allegedly blindfolded by Shoko while Zhou assaulted him all over the body with a log until he became unconscious. The two men carried him outside and when they discovered that he had died hatched a plan to dispose of the body.
Mahlamvana allegedly provided a wheelbarrow and two litres of petrol.
The trio took the body to Mpandashango Dam.
They put the body in a nearby dry stream before pouring petrol on it and setting it on fire but only the deceased clothes and cellphone were burnt.
Zhou and Shoko allegedly tied a big stone to Chinyoka’s body before throwing it into the dam.
On December 5, Mr Chinyoka’s body was seen floating in the dam and was retrieved before being taken to Mpilo Central Hospital for post-mortem.
Police investigations led to the arrest of the trio at the weekend, three months after the murder, and charged. A court adjourned the case till February 15 and advised the accused to apply for bail at the High Court.
