News / Regional
Man confesses to killing wrong woman
18 Feb 2014 at 05:45hrs | Views
A 34-YEAR-OLD Gwanda man from Garanyemba confessed to killing a 50-year-old woman by strangulation in November 2013 when he appeared in the Gwanda Magistrates' Court on Monday.
Kelboy Moyo appeared before Gwanda magistrate-in-charge Reuben Mukavhi and confirmed not having been influenced to give the statement he made to the police at the time of his arrest.
Moyo said he made the statement freely and willingly after regretting killing the woman whom he suspected to be the mother of another woman who had once accused him of rape.
Members of the public sat shell shocked in the public gallery as Moyo's chilling account was read out in court.
Moyo said he got possessed by evil spirits on November 27 2013 and felt like strangling a boy he had earlier met on the way before he killed the woman Lasi Nyathi.
"Upon meeting this young boy, I felt a bad spirit telling me to strangle him to death, but I was afraid of his dogs," reads his statement.
Moyo said he continued with his journey and came across Nyathi, who freaked out when they bumped into each other. He said he asked her whether there were goats for sale in the village so as to calm her.
Moyo said they parted ways with Nyathi, but he hid in the bush as he wanted her to advance towards a secluded area in the mountains.
"I ran after her and when she saw me, she ran until she got tired and picked up a stone and stopped. She made several attempts to scare me off, but I managed to grab her.
"We struggled and finally she fell to the ground and I sat on top of her. I removed her tennis shoe laces and tied them together and strangled her until she became weak," said Moyo.
He loosened his grip and realised that the woman had lost consciousness and tried to resuscitate her to no avail.
"That is when I released she was dead and I removed her corpse from the path and hid it at the foot of the mountain. I laid her down and tied the laces on a small branch to fake death by hanging. I placed one stone next to her head and the other by her body and went home," said Moyo.
He said a few days later, his mother told him a woman, who was a relative, had been found dead at the foot of the mountain and this haunted him although he did not tell anyone.
Mukavhi said he was convinced Moyo had freely made his statement to the police without being induc+ed.
The statement will now be used as evidence when Moyo's trial goes to the High Court.
He will appear again at the Gwanda Magistrates' Court on February 27 for routine remand.
Kelboy Moyo appeared before Gwanda magistrate-in-charge Reuben Mukavhi and confirmed not having been influenced to give the statement he made to the police at the time of his arrest.
Moyo said he made the statement freely and willingly after regretting killing the woman whom he suspected to be the mother of another woman who had once accused him of rape.
Members of the public sat shell shocked in the public gallery as Moyo's chilling account was read out in court.
Moyo said he got possessed by evil spirits on November 27 2013 and felt like strangling a boy he had earlier met on the way before he killed the woman Lasi Nyathi.
"Upon meeting this young boy, I felt a bad spirit telling me to strangle him to death, but I was afraid of his dogs," reads his statement.
Moyo said he continued with his journey and came across Nyathi, who freaked out when they bumped into each other. He said he asked her whether there were goats for sale in the village so as to calm her.
Moyo said they parted ways with Nyathi, but he hid in the bush as he wanted her to advance towards a secluded area in the mountains.
"I ran after her and when she saw me, she ran until she got tired and picked up a stone and stopped. She made several attempts to scare me off, but I managed to grab her.
"We struggled and finally she fell to the ground and I sat on top of her. I removed her tennis shoe laces and tied them together and strangled her until she became weak," said Moyo.
He loosened his grip and realised that the woman had lost consciousness and tried to resuscitate her to no avail.
"That is when I released she was dead and I removed her corpse from the path and hid it at the foot of the mountain. I laid her down and tied the laces on a small branch to fake death by hanging. I placed one stone next to her head and the other by her body and went home," said Moyo.
He said a few days later, his mother told him a woman, who was a relative, had been found dead at the foot of the mountain and this haunted him although he did not tell anyone.
Mukavhi said he was convinced Moyo had freely made his statement to the police without being induc+ed.
The statement will now be used as evidence when Moyo's trial goes to the High Court.
He will appear again at the Gwanda Magistrates' Court on February 27 for routine remand.
Source - Southern Eye
