A man named Mike Zinyemba from Mutare has been sentenced to life in prison for the m_rder of a police officer named Nicholas Chirengwa. The incident occurred while Chirengwa was investigating a case against Zinyemba. The judge, Justice Isaac Muzenda, stated that Zinyemba’s actions were brutal and barbaric, showing no regard for human life. The judge also noted that Zinyemba had a history of resisting law enforcement and had attempted to mislead the court during the trial. Said the judge:
I am aware that the deceased was a police constabulary and was k!lled during the tour of duty in upholding the rule of law.
The post-mortem report shows that the deceased’s head was brutally, mercilessly and ruthlessly smashed and that caused his de@th.
The m_rder was heart-wrenching, barbaric and well-orchestrated.
Accused did not value life at all and showed no sign of civilisation, he behaved like one bred during the dark ages.
This is very aggravatory. During the trial, the accused was not candid with the court and chose to lie trying to mislead the court as to the cause of death of the now deceased.
He did not show remorse over what he had done and wanted to portray a picture that he was the victim, not the aggressor.
The accused k!lled a defenceless police detail during daylight and tried further to evade the long arm of the law by hiding in the mountains and running away from the police.
I had seriously considered capital punishment but the youthful age of the accused heavily weighed in his favour.
However accused does not deserve to live nor go back into society. He must be removed from it.
What transpired?
The court heard that on December 16, 2021, a police officer named Chirengwa, accompanied by two other officers, Shaibo and Kanjalo, went to Zinyemba’s house to ask about a case of stolen livestock. Zinyemba told them to leave and had a machete with him. The officers did not leave, so Zinyemba threw a stone at Chirengwa, hitting him on the head. Chirengwa fell down, and Zinyemba chased after Shaibo and Kanjalo, but could not catch them. He then returned to where Chirengwa was and used a larger stone to crush his head. Afterwards, Zinyemba ran away from the scene.
Shaibo and Kanjalo reported the incident to the village head. On December 18, the police searched Zinyemba’s house but did not find him. They later found him fishing at a river, and he tried to escape. The police fired warning shots, arrested Zinyemba, and found a machete and a knife in his possession.
The court also heard Zinyemba’s side of the story. Zinyemba claims that after Chirengwa’s death, the police raided his house at night and tried to arrest him. He was violent and got shot in the lower limbs but managed to escape.
Source Pindula News
