News / National
Gardener murders his employer, rapes her corpse
19 Apr 2013 at 11:24hrs | Views
A Mutare woman was murdered by her gardener who went on to rape her corpse on Sunday.
Homicide detectives handling the case could not fathom how the suspect raped the dead body and they were later shocked when he revealed that he wanted "to taste how it feels to sleep with a white lady, even a dead one".
Phillip Chinhara (31) was on Monday arrested for allegedly butchering Maria Spanos (77) of 5 Miles Avenue, Yeovil in Mutare with a machete.
He faces three more possible charges of rape, unlawful entry and robbery.
Following his arrest, detectives recovered a 100kg safe which he had stolen from the house and hid in a stream near the suburb.
Police also recovered the murder weapon which will be produced in court as exhibit. The deceased was found in a pool of blood lying on her bed.
She had a 15cm deep cut on her left cheek consistent with a machete attack while her lower part of the body was naked. Some semen was also found at the scene.
Assistant Manicaland police spokesman, Sergeant Muzondiwa Clean, described the murder as callous and chilling.
"Investigations are still in progress, but we will get to the bottom of the whole case. On Monday at around 7am, Oneday Chitizho who is the late Spanos' other gardener woke up as usual and discovered that six roof tiles had been removed from the main house. He then went to his employer's bedroom window and knocked to wake her up in order to inform her of the removed tiles, but there was no response.
"It was at that time that Oneday discovered that the gate was open and the padlock key which was used to lock it was also missing. Oneday then went to inform George Spanos who is the deceased's son. George made a police report and detectives reacted swiftly and upon arrival they discovered that all windows and doors were locked. Police had to smash the window and cut the burglar bars to gain entry into the house. Spanos was lying in a pool of blood. Her body was covered with blankets and she had a deep cut on the left cheek and her lower part was completely naked," he said.
The police also discovered that a safe had been stolen.
During interrogation on Tuesday at Mutare Central Police Station, the murder suspect, Chinhara, chronicled how he planned to rob his employer, broke into the house, murdered Spanos and raped her as well as how he ferried the heavy 100kg safe by himself to the stream.
Chinhara is Oneday's son-in-law and he ended up staying at Spanos residence because he used to relief his father-in-law as a gardener each time he was off duty.
"Ms Spanos told me to come and stay at the house and I stayed with my father-in-law at the cottage. I heard rumours that Ms Spanos was about to erect a pre-cast wall around her house and I asked my father-in-law if it was true. He replied in the positive and I asked him if she had money and he said yes and he also told me that she also had diamonds," he said.
On Sunday, he allegedly wore his father-in-law's shoes and went into town, ostensibly planning his moves.
He came back at around 7pm, jumped the gate and got inside.
"I climbed to the roof and removed some tiles. I crawled in the ceiling looking for the trap hole. I found it and I jumped down into the house where Ms Spanos was. I opened the outside doors and went to the cottage where my father-in-law was sleeping and took some weapons, including the machete. I then headed back to the main house and I found out that the toilet lights had been switched on. I went straight into Ms Spanos bedroom and started searching for the keys to the safe.
"I think she heard the noise and she came out of the toilet with a pistol in her hand. She then shouted 'Who are You!". I turned around and saw that she was about to shoot me. At that point she did not identify me because I was wearing balaclavas. I then hit her with the machete and she fell down. While on the ground, she then recognised me and said 'Phillip why are you doing this to me?' I took the machete and stabbed her through the neck. It went through and came out on the other side of her throat. I picked her up and placed her on the bed. I removed her clothes and raped her, but her body was now cold. Since I did not ejaculate I then masturbated," he said.
Since he failed to locate the keys, Chinhara then dragged the safe out of the house, placed it into a wheelbarrow and ferried it to a nearby stream.
On his way out, he broke the keys to the gate and dodged police officers who were patrolling the area at night. When asked why he killed Ms Spanos, he said he had to kill her since she had identified him.
"She knew it was me who was robbing her and I had to kill her," he said.
On why he raped a dead body, Chinhara said he wanted to taste what it feels like to bed a white lady. After committing the crime he came back and slept with his father-in-law at the cottage as if everything was fine.
When his father-in-law discovered the missing tiles the following morning it was Chinhara who advised him to call George and also inform the police.
When detectives combed the scene they discovered that the shoe marks that were left in the ceiling matched with those of Oneday's shoes. They quizzed him and he told them that his shoes had been borrowed by his son-in-law the previous day.
Chinhara was subsequently arrested and he confessed to the murder. He led detectives to where he had hidden the safe and it was recovered.
Homicide detectives handling the case could not fathom how the suspect raped the dead body and they were later shocked when he revealed that he wanted "to taste how it feels to sleep with a white lady, even a dead one".
Phillip Chinhara (31) was on Monday arrested for allegedly butchering Maria Spanos (77) of 5 Miles Avenue, Yeovil in Mutare with a machete.
He faces three more possible charges of rape, unlawful entry and robbery.
Following his arrest, detectives recovered a 100kg safe which he had stolen from the house and hid in a stream near the suburb.
Police also recovered the murder weapon which will be produced in court as exhibit. The deceased was found in a pool of blood lying on her bed.
She had a 15cm deep cut on her left cheek consistent with a machete attack while her lower part of the body was naked. Some semen was also found at the scene.
Assistant Manicaland police spokesman, Sergeant Muzondiwa Clean, described the murder as callous and chilling.
"Investigations are still in progress, but we will get to the bottom of the whole case. On Monday at around 7am, Oneday Chitizho who is the late Spanos' other gardener woke up as usual and discovered that six roof tiles had been removed from the main house. He then went to his employer's bedroom window and knocked to wake her up in order to inform her of the removed tiles, but there was no response.
"It was at that time that Oneday discovered that the gate was open and the padlock key which was used to lock it was also missing. Oneday then went to inform George Spanos who is the deceased's son. George made a police report and detectives reacted swiftly and upon arrival they discovered that all windows and doors were locked. Police had to smash the window and cut the burglar bars to gain entry into the house. Spanos was lying in a pool of blood. Her body was covered with blankets and she had a deep cut on the left cheek and her lower part was completely naked," he said.
The police also discovered that a safe had been stolen.
During interrogation on Tuesday at Mutare Central Police Station, the murder suspect, Chinhara, chronicled how he planned to rob his employer, broke into the house, murdered Spanos and raped her as well as how he ferried the heavy 100kg safe by himself to the stream.
Chinhara is Oneday's son-in-law and he ended up staying at Spanos residence because he used to relief his father-in-law as a gardener each time he was off duty.
"Ms Spanos told me to come and stay at the house and I stayed with my father-in-law at the cottage. I heard rumours that Ms Spanos was about to erect a pre-cast wall around her house and I asked my father-in-law if it was true. He replied in the positive and I asked him if she had money and he said yes and he also told me that she also had diamonds," he said.
On Sunday, he allegedly wore his father-in-law's shoes and went into town, ostensibly planning his moves.
He came back at around 7pm, jumped the gate and got inside.
"I climbed to the roof and removed some tiles. I crawled in the ceiling looking for the trap hole. I found it and I jumped down into the house where Ms Spanos was. I opened the outside doors and went to the cottage where my father-in-law was sleeping and took some weapons, including the machete. I then headed back to the main house and I found out that the toilet lights had been switched on. I went straight into Ms Spanos bedroom and started searching for the keys to the safe.
"I think she heard the noise and she came out of the toilet with a pistol in her hand. She then shouted 'Who are You!". I turned around and saw that she was about to shoot me. At that point she did not identify me because I was wearing balaclavas. I then hit her with the machete and she fell down. While on the ground, she then recognised me and said 'Phillip why are you doing this to me?' I took the machete and stabbed her through the neck. It went through and came out on the other side of her throat. I picked her up and placed her on the bed. I removed her clothes and raped her, but her body was now cold. Since I did not ejaculate I then masturbated," he said.
Since he failed to locate the keys, Chinhara then dragged the safe out of the house, placed it into a wheelbarrow and ferried it to a nearby stream.
On his way out, he broke the keys to the gate and dodged police officers who were patrolling the area at night. When asked why he killed Ms Spanos, he said he had to kill her since she had identified him.
"She knew it was me who was robbing her and I had to kill her," he said.
On why he raped a dead body, Chinhara said he wanted to taste what it feels like to bed a white lady. After committing the crime he came back and slept with his father-in-law at the cottage as if everything was fine.
When his father-in-law discovered the missing tiles the following morning it was Chinhara who advised him to call George and also inform the police.
When detectives combed the scene they discovered that the shoe marks that were left in the ceiling matched with those of Oneday's shoes. They quizzed him and he told them that his shoes had been borrowed by his son-in-law the previous day.
Chinhara was subsequently arrested and he confessed to the murder. He led detectives to where he had hidden the safe and it was recovered.
Source - MP
