News / National
CMED boss was shot dead
28 Apr 2017 at 06:54hrs | Views
The police officer who attended the scene following the suspected suicide of CMED (Pvt) Ltd board chairman and Nemchem (Pvt) Ltd managing director Mr Leslie John Denn yesterday said it was likely that the deceased was shot.
The officer, Share Bindu of Borrowdale Police Station, told an inquest into Mr Denn's death at the Harare Magistrates' Court that there was more blood on the floor than on the bed where his body was found lying. He said the shooting could have happened on the floor and the perpetrator then put the body on the bed.
Bindu said the pistol, suspected to have been used during the murder, was neatly tucked in the drawer.
"There was a small hole on the mattress, but it did not go through the base bed," he said.
"We looked for the cartridge, but we did not find it."
A man in the court gallery, Charles Mafemera, asked who was more experienced to remove the gun, the ambulance personnel or the gardener.
"The ambulance people feared to touch the gun," said Bindu.
"I do not know where the gardener got the courage to do so."
Bridget Nyaguse asked the police officer how he reconciled blood on the floor and the hole on the mattress.
"We do not know how many bullets were fired since we did not find the cartridge," said Bindu.
In a previous proceedings, the late Denn's fiancé Ashton Pillary, who is represented by lawyer Mr Dumisani Mtombeni, dismissed the forensic experts and police officers' conclusion on her lover's death as laymen's findings. Mr Mtombeni said the fact that CID forensic and ballistic expert Detective Inspector Admire Mutizwa and the investigating officer, Knowledge Duri, did not give a conclusive opinion in their statements showed they were incompetent and "useless".
The comment prompted the presiding magistrate Mr Lazini Ncube to intervene.
"We are yet to come to the final findings, but what they meant was that they cannot rule out foul play," said Mr Ncube.
Mr Denn reportedly shot himself on the upper torso in May last year at his house under unclear circumstances.
The officer, Share Bindu of Borrowdale Police Station, told an inquest into Mr Denn's death at the Harare Magistrates' Court that there was more blood on the floor than on the bed where his body was found lying. He said the shooting could have happened on the floor and the perpetrator then put the body on the bed.
Bindu said the pistol, suspected to have been used during the murder, was neatly tucked in the drawer.
"There was a small hole on the mattress, but it did not go through the base bed," he said.
"We looked for the cartridge, but we did not find it."
A man in the court gallery, Charles Mafemera, asked who was more experienced to remove the gun, the ambulance personnel or the gardener.
"The ambulance people feared to touch the gun," said Bindu.
"I do not know where the gardener got the courage to do so."
Bridget Nyaguse asked the police officer how he reconciled blood on the floor and the hole on the mattress.
"We do not know how many bullets were fired since we did not find the cartridge," said Bindu.
In a previous proceedings, the late Denn's fiancé Ashton Pillary, who is represented by lawyer Mr Dumisani Mtombeni, dismissed the forensic experts and police officers' conclusion on her lover's death as laymen's findings. Mr Mtombeni said the fact that CID forensic and ballistic expert Detective Inspector Admire Mutizwa and the investigating officer, Knowledge Duri, did not give a conclusive opinion in their statements showed they were incompetent and "useless".
The comment prompted the presiding magistrate Mr Lazini Ncube to intervene.
"We are yet to come to the final findings, but what they meant was that they cannot rule out foul play," said Mr Ncube.
Mr Denn reportedly shot himself on the upper torso in May last year at his house under unclear circumstances.
Source - the herald
