Man kills father in domestic dispute

A 79-YEAR-OLD Tsholotsho man died when his mentally challenged son struck him with a concrete brick to stop him from assaulting his mother.

Aubrey Ndebele, 31, killed his father Robert who was assaulting his wife, Sarah, for disrupting his sleep by watching television on high volume. Aubrey on Thursday appeared before Bulawayo High Court Judge Justice Maxwell Takuva facing a murder charge.

Justice Takuva ruled that Aubrey could not be held legally responsible for killing his father as he was mentally ill at the time of committing the crime.

Justice Takuva retained a special verdict of not guilty to a murder charge because of insanity.

"Aubrey has been examined by doctors and assessed by clinical psychologists whose findings are that he shouldn't be held liable for his conduct.

"It's common cause that he was suffering from a mental illness when he committed the crime.

"We're satisfied that Aubrey was mentally defective and the court retains a special verdict of not guilty in terms of section 29 (2) of the Mental Health Act. Aubrey is ordered to return to Mlondolozi Mental Institution for examination," ruled Justice Takuva.

Aubrey, who was clad in khaki prison garb, appeared normal throughout the court proceedings as he gave coherent responses.

He was 29 years old when he committed the gruesome murder.

Prosecuting, Khumbulani Ndlovu said on April 10, 2013 shortly after 9PM, Ndebele, his wife and their children were seated in the kitchen.

The court heard that minutes later Ndebele went to his bedroom and retired to bed leaving the rest of his family behind.

"After Ndebele had retired to bed, Sithokozile Ndlovu who is his daughter-in-law invited Sarah and other family members to join her in her bedroom to watch a television movie," said Ndlovu.

The court heard that Ndebele later woke up at around 11.30PM complaining of noise from the television set.

He went to his daughter-in-law's bedroom and confronted his wife over the noise, the court heard.

"Ndebele summoned his wife to their bedroom where he started assaulting her. Sarah managed to escape and she ran towards the gate but Ndebele caught up with her before he continued assaulting her and she screamed for help," said Ndlovu.

The court heard that Aubrey, who was already asleep, was awakened by his mother's screaming. He went outside and pleaded with his father to stop assaulting his mother.

"Ndebele turned on his son and charged towards him, but Aubrey was undeterred and he picked a concrete brick and struck his advancing father once on the head and he fell down," said Ndlovu.

Aubrey picked three more bricks and continued to attack his father as he lay helplessly on the ground. Ndebele was taken to Tsholotsho District Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

According to the postmortem results, Ndebele died due to head injuries and depressed skull fracture on the right parietal region.

Aubrey was examined by psychiatrists at Mlondolozi Mental Institution and they concluded that there was reasonable possibility that at the time of the crime, he suffered from chronic schizophrenia (a mental disorder) such that he should not be held legally liable for his actions.