The man convicted of killing seven-year-old Tapiwa Makore three years ago, will today be sentenced by the High Court after both the prosecution and defence submitted their arguments in aggravation and mitigation.
Tafadzwa Shamba was last month convicted of murder, while the boy’s uncle, Tapiwa Makore Senior, was found guilty of being an accomplice after he provided his house for the commissioning of the crime. He too faces his sentence today.
The body of Tapiwa was found disfigured and cut into pieces, sparking far-reaching outrage throughout the nation. Shamba confessed to the murder and this statement was confirmed by a magistrate and accepted by the High Court. He told the court that they killed the boy with the intention of selling his body parts to a witchdoctor for US$1 500.
High Court Judge Justice Munamato Mutevedzi, sitting with assessors Mr Chakuvinga and Ms Chitsiga, found Shamba guilty of murdering the boy while Makore Snr was convicted of being an accomplice to the murder although the court found insufficient evidence to convict him of the murder itself. In the case of Shamba, he was convicted on the strength of the confession he made with this being supported by other evidence. He did not only confess to the murder, but made indications which led to the recovery of the boy’s lower limbs dumped in a latrine.
Shamba also led police to the house where the boy had been detained. The police recovered a container with illicit brew which Shamba had used to drug the boy and other paraphernalia used during and after the murder.
In convicting Makore Snr as an accomplice, the court relied on circumstantial evidence, after discounting his direct involvement in the murder for want of enough evidence but the judge made it clear he was embroiled in the murder in more than one way.
It is a requirement of the law that there be a causal link between the accomplice’s conduct and the death, said Justice Mutevedzi, finding that Makore provided his house to facilitate the commission of the crime hence contributed to the murder of the boy. In the final analysis, the court was satisfied that Shamba and Makore Snr, in one way or another, left their bold and luminous foot prints across the crime scene.
Source: herald
In other news – Where is ex-Sundowns star Siyabonga Zulu?
A local publication, Sowetan reported in January 2019 that the soccer player Siyabonga Zulu got fired by Mamelodi Sundowns after missing his disciplinary hearing and going AWOL.
His sister, however, rubbished the claims and told the publication that his sangoma baby mama destroyed his soccer career by constantly showing up at his club to complain about him. Learn more
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