2 dead in 14-times stabbing frenzy

A-46- YEAR-OLD man from Inyathi in Matabeleland North allegedly crushed his wife and cousin's heads with a hammer before stabbing each of them with a spear more than seven times following a domestic misunderstanding.

Amos Nkala of Balanda area, Village 7, Ward 8 in Bubi District, fled from the scene after committing the crimes around 1PM on Sunday.

Villagers yesterday said they threw up when they arrived at the horrific murder scene.

They said Nkala could have stabbed the women after killing them with the hammer.

Zanu-PF councillor for Ward 8, Clr Herbert Ngwendu said the blood-curdling incident occurred while most villagers had gone to church.

"There was blood everywhere. The upper parts of the bodies looked flattened. Nkala, after pulverising them with a hammer, stabbed his wife Simangele Tshuma (41) four times in her back, thrice in the chest and once in the head," said Clr Ngwendu.

"His cousin Nongazi Nkala (39) was stabbed twice in the back, once on the fore head, four times in the chest and abdomen before he left the spear stuck in her left breast."

When villagers rushed to the scene Amos cycled off at high speed and is still at large.

Sources said Tshuma, who had gone to South Africa for a break, returned on Thursday night, only to be gruesomely killed on Sunday.

Clr Ngwendu said: "It is alleged that Amos had a fight with Tshuma sometime last year over some woman that he was allegedly having an affair with. He assaulted her and she requested that he gives her money so that she goes to her rural home for a break.

"After three weeks, the husband made a follow-up with relatives only to discover that she was already in South Africa," he said.

Clr Ngwendu said Amos re-ignited an affair he had with another woman, different from the one they fought over.

"The woman came to live with him in mid April. It seems Tshuma heard of the development and decided to return home.

"She put up at Nongazi's homestead and went to her husband's homestead the following morning so that they could discuss their marriage," he said.

Clr Ngwendu said the couple met and discussed their issues and they resolved that he should give her money to return to her parents' home in Lupane.

"On Sunday morning he left for work, and when he returned at around 1PM he found a number of women including Tshuma's daughter from another marriage, Roselyn, who had come from her matrimonial home to visit her mother.

"Nkala politely asked the villagers to leave. He went into a hut with his wife and his cousin, leaving Roselyn seated outside.

"Tshuma's daughter says she heard thudding sounds and when she took a peek, she saw Amos hammering her mother. Both women looked dead. One of them had her brains splattered on the floor. Amos dashed outside and Roselyn says he grabbed a spear from another room. She rushed to call neighbours and they found both women lying in pools of blood, already dead," he said.

Matabeleland North police spokesperson Inspector Siphiwe Makonese confirmed the double murder.

"I can confirm that we received a report of a man who killed his wife and his relative over a misunderstanding which involved him marrying another wife.

"He first attacked the two with a hammer, and stabbed them. He cycled off at high speed and is still at large," she said.

Insp Makonese urged members of the public to desist from violence and resolve disputes orally.