A 41-year-old Lupane man has been arrested for allegedly murdering his neighbour following a misunderstanding at a beer hall.
According to a police memorandum, the accused has been identified as Michael Donga of Malumba Village, under Chief Mabhikwa, and has since been charged with murder.
Police, said on Thursday last week, the accused allegedly bludgeoned the deceased, Josiah Moyo (51) of the same village before dumping his body near a school after exchanging harsh words at Malumba Business Centre.
“At 11 pm, when the shop was closed, and as the patrons were dismissed, Bongani Ndlovu and (another man only identified as) Mqondisi left the shops heading east, while Moyo (the deceased) and Donga (the suspect) left heading west, towards Malumba Primary School seemingly having an misunderstanding” read the police memo.
“Bongani then instructed Donga (the accused) to leave the deceased person (Moyo) and go home, but he refused.”
According to police, Bongani then left the accused, who was holding the deceased’s hand but was looking ‘very’ angry.
“The following day, at around 6am, Louise Moyo discovered that the deceased had not returned to his homestead and started searching for him,” said the police.
At 8am, Moyo saw the deceased’s lifeless body lying about 20 metres west of Malumba Primary School by the fence.
“The deceased had been bleeding from the nose and mouth,” read the memo.
After a police report was made, witnesses testified they had last seen Donga being physically violent towards Moyo.
At the scene where Moyo was found, police said they observed the deceased had marks, which showed he was beaten all over his body.
“He had blood scratches from when he was dragged for about 120 metres before his body was dumped,” said the police.
“Investigations carried out led to the arrest of Michael Donga as a suspect, being the last person to be seen in a harsh dialogue with the deceased. He was also linked to the crime by his usual shoes, whose prints were noticed seemingly struggling with the deceased’s foot prints.”