'Killer' nurse jailed

KWEKWE General Hospital nurse, Renica Chakabvapasi, has been slapped with a five-year jail term following her conviction on two counts of defrauding a funeral benefits cash fund in a case where she also stands accused of killing terminally-ill patients under her care in order to cash in on their benefits.

Provincial magistrate Ngoni Nduna found Chakabvapasi guilty of defrauding Old Mutual of $10 000 in a scam in which she fraudulently opened funeral cash benefit policy accounts for two terminally-ill patients, who she allegedly targeted at the hospital.

Nduna found Chakabvapasi guilty on two counts, which have so far been brought before him, and sentenced her to two-and-a-half years in jail on each count.

The court suspended two years of the sentence on condition that she refunds $10 000 to Old Mutual.

Chakabvapasi and her lover, Godwin Mugwangi, who is on the run, face a murder charge and five more counts of fraud involving $5 000 each.