Two Bulawayo men have each been sentenced to 20 years in prison for the brutal murder of a 27-year-old Nyamandlovu man in a case that has taken nearly five years to conclude, while the woman accused of orchestrating the killing never stood trial after dying by suicide.
The High Court sitting at Hwange convicted Ndabezinhle Sithole (28) and Brian Matinyadze (35) of the murder of Arnold Moyo of Harlesden Farm, Nyamandlovu.
According to court proceedings, Moyo was found dead inside his kitchen hut on July 31, 2021, after sustaining multiple stab wounds to the stomach, neck, back, head and face.
His wife, Sitshengisiwe Moyo, alerted police after discovering his body, telling investigators that her husband had spent time with friends she did not know.
Investigations later uncovered that Sithole and Matinyadze, who were neighbours of Sitshengisiwe’s mother in Bulawayo’s Mzilikazi suburb, had travelled to Nyamandlovu after allegedly being invited by Sitshengisiwe to assist with farming activities.
As detectives pieced together the circumstances surrounding the killing, police recovered an axe head, a kitchen knife believed to have been used in the murder, Arnold Moyo’s stolen mobile phone and a pair of his tennis shoes, linking the two men to the crime.
The National Prosecuting Authority of Zimbabwe said investigations also implicated Sitshengisiwe, who was accused of conspiring with the two men to kill her husband.
However, before she could appear in court to answer the allegations, she died by suicide, bringing proceedings against her to an end.
Following the conclusion of the trial, the High Court found Sithole and Matinyadze guilty of murder and sentenced each of them to 20 years in prison.