Judge tells girlfriend killer, 'money can't buy you love'

A Bulawayo judge told 62-year-old Danis David Konson charged with shooting his girlfriend to death that, "money can't buy you love."

Konson admitted to shooting Siphathisiwe Ncube, 28, three times after she terminated their six-year relationship.

Konson also admitted to shooting dead a police officer - he claims accidentally - in the same incident.

The building contractor from Parklands, Bulawayo, had plied Ncube with gifts and opened a grocery store for her in Lupane. He bombarded her with letters promising her a good life and then she dumped him. Konson told Justice Lawrence Kamocha at the Bulawayo High Court yesterday that he did not believe Ncube had left him for another man.

He told the court he tried to woo her back by sending apologetic letters and went to her residence at Mathetheni Business Centre in Tshongogwe, Lupane, because he "didn't believe she was married and still doesn't believe that."

Justice Kamocha countered: "She had already told you that she was no longer interested. Why try to buy love?

"In your letters, you promised to look after her and do all these things for her. Why didn't you believe her words that she was now married? Instead, you went there to confirm and you found her with her husband, and you want to call that provocation? Isn't that self-inflicted provocation?"

In a letter written by Ncube and read in court, she told Konson: "Kanti DK wawungakwazi ukuthi ngiyaku user? Vele ngingenzani lekhehla elinjengawe? Isitolo ngivalile, uzakwenzani? Angithi ngangikubhadala ngomzimba wami?"

Konson said that letter infuriated him, even as he insisted that the shooting was accidental as he was "confused and in a blackout."

Angeline Munyeriwa, prosecuting, assisted by Gugulethu Ndlovu, told Konson that he did not shoot Ncube because of the shop he had opened for her but for being rejected.

But Konson rejected the suggestion, saying he could have shot her earlier if he intended to do so. Prosecutors and the defence team led by Robert Ndlovu will file closing statements today, and Justice Kamocha will start preparing judgment.

The week-long trial has heard how Konson and Ncube began their relationship in 2008. In January 2012, the enamoured lover opened a shop for Ncube, which he also helped her run.

In July 2012, Ncube told Konson that she wanted to end the relationship. He tried to persuade her to change her mind without success.

On September 10 last year, Konson went to Jotsholo Police Station and appealed for help in solving the dispute between him and Ncube, telling cops that they were fighting over a business deal.

A police officer, Constable Wisdom Matupire, accompanied him to Tshongogwe Business Centre where the meeting was to take place.

But prosecutors say the mood quickly changed when Konson saw a half-naked man coming out of Ncube's room at the grocery store he had opened for her. She was wrapped in just a towel.

Konson claims he suffered a black-out and pulled the trigger of his CZ 6.35mm pistol, shooting both Ncube and the police officer several times.

Ncube was shot twice on the head and once on the thigh and died instantly. The police officer died minutes later. Meanwhile, the judge on Wednesday was forced to adjourn the trial after the only cassette recording machine at the Bulawayo High Court broke down.

The trial resumed yesterday morning after two tape recording machines were delivered from Harare to rescue the situation.

All High Court proceedings are recorded, and the Bulawayo court has been using one old cassette recorder in a digital world.