Mpopoma man chopped wife with a machete while son watched

THE machete wielding husband who allegedly chopped his wife into pieces in the early hours of Monday in Bulawayo's Mpopoma suburb allegedly committed the act in front of his seven-year-old son.

This was revealed by the family's domestic worker yesterday.

Goodman Nyoni (33) split the skull of his estranged wife Miriam Tavingofa Nyoni and chopped off her hands before trying to commit suicide by slitting his wrists with a machete over an undisclosed dispute.

It also emerged yesterday that Mrs Nyoni was working for the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra) while the husband was working for Carousel, a subsidiary of Edgars.

The domestic worker aged 30, who had only worked for the woman for four days only, said the son (name withheld) was sleeping in the lounge when the spine chilling incident occurred.

It is alleged that her mistress had told her that her husband was in South Africa.

Speaking to Chronicle yesterday in Mpopoma, the domestic worker who preferred anonymity expressed shock and said her boss was killed in a ghastly manner.

The domestic worker, who was visibly shaken, could hardly talk and kept on wailing as she narrated her story to this  reporter.

"I did not know much about the family as I had only worked for Mrs Nyoni for only four days. When we found her husband home when we returned from church, it was my first time to see him as I was told that he was in South Africa.

"My boss said she would cook supper that night so I relaxed and retired to bed after having supper with the family. I left the couple in the lounge with their son sleeping on the couch," she said before breaking into tears.

The domestic worker said she slept like a baby that night but was awakened by a noise but failed to leave her bedroom as the husband rushed to her door and told her to go back to bed.

"I had a strange feeling that night and when I heard the noise, I decided to open the door to check on what was happening.

"However, before I could get out of the room, her husband rushed to the door and told me to close the door and go back to sleep as he was still discussing something with his wife," said the domestic worker.

She said she complied and thought it was the family norm when he is around to have lengthy discussions.

"I went back to sleep and I am confident that the woman was already dead after that as I heard no noise except for the television set that was still on.

"The couple's son was still in the lounge by that time and I was surprised in the morning when he told me that he saw his father assaulting the mother who could not defend herself," said the domestic worker.

She also said she only heard a loud knock in the early hours of Monday and ignored the knock expecting the man of the house to open the door.

"I suddenly heard a bang and finally decided to get out of the bed. I got a shock of my life when I saw my boss lying lifeless in pieces in a pool of blood," she said before screaming.

Mrs Nyoni's family spokesperson, Mr S Takawira, said the family still did not have an official comment as they were waiting for other family members from Masvingo.

"We cannot comment at the moment and we are trying to pretend as if everything is fine for the sake of the children. We can only comment on the issue when everyone has arrived," said Mr Takawira.

Efforts to get a comment from the dead woman's twin sister Memory were fruitless as she said she was not yet ready to speak.

Nyoni is reportedly recovering at Mpilo Central Hospital.