Man 'crushes' rival suitor's skull

A KEZI man allegedly killed his love rival in a fight over a woman by slamming his head against a wall before stomping on him resulting in him suffering a fractured skull, a court heard.

This emerged during the trial of Themba Hadebe, 25, who appeared before Bulawayo High Court judge Justice Lawrence Kamocha charged with murdering Edmore Ncube. Hadebe pleaded not guilty.

State witness Talent Dube told the court that an altercation ensued between Ncube and Hadebe over a girlfriend they were both dating.

"We were at Mdluli bar in Kezi where we were drinking with both Ncube and Hadebe. Suddenly, Ncube said he was leaving to see his girlfriend Letwin," said Dube.

He told the court Hadebe responded angrily saying Letwin was also his girlfriend.

"He warned Edmore against talking about her and threatened to beat him up," said Dube.

He said Ncube left the bottle store without responding and Hadebe followed him.

"Hadebe and another guy Mengezi followed Edmore and returned sometime later telling everyone that they had dealt with Edmore."

Dube told the court the two men said they were returning to beat Ncube up again and a crowd followed outside to watch.

Hadebe, Dube said, grabbed Ncube by the neck and hit his head against the pillar of a veranda and he fell down.

"After falling down, he stomped on his head saying, 'I'll kill you today'. I saw him bleeding from the head," said Dube.

In his defence, Hadebe said they were both intoxicated and the altercation began when Ncube told him that he was going to see his girlfriend.

"My Lord, he poked me and I poked him back, we then started pushing each other and later on punched each other.

I overpowered him and he fell headlong onto ground," said Hadebe.

He said after the incident, he ran away and went home.

Hadebe asked for forgiveness and said the unfortunate incident was haunting him.

"My Lord, I got so much disturbed and I'm still disturbed. I ask myself how such a thing befell me. It was never my intention to kill him, it was out of drunkenness. I didn't have a problem with Edmore, we had cordial relations," he said.

Prosecuting, Whisper Mabhaudi said on June 10, 2013, Hadebe and Ncube were among patrons that were drinking beer at Mdluli Bottle Store at Kezi Business Centre.

"The two had an argument over a woman called Letwin, with each one of them averring that Letwin was his girlfriend. Ncube then left and Hadebe called Mbekezeli Priviledge Moyo to accompany him and follow Ncube as he wanted to assault him," said Mabhaudi.

The court heard that Talent Dube followed the two and stood at the veranda of the shops where he watched as Hadebe pulled up Ncube who was lying on the veranda of the shop and punched him all over the body.

"Hadebe punched Ncube in the head before slamming his head against the wall of the store several times. Ncube fell down near the veranda pillar where Hadebe pulled him up, held his head in his hands before striking his head against the wall," said Mabhaudi.

The prosecutor said Ncube was rushed to hospital the following day where he was referred to the United Bulawayo Hospitals and was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit.

The court heard Ncube died a day later as a result of the injuries.

A postmortem produced in court showed that Ncube died as a result of skull fractures, intracranial haemorrhage, blunt force trauma and homicide.

Hadebe, through his lawyer Lison Ncube, told the court he was praying for a lesser charge of culpable homicide.

"The accused person denies murdering the deceased and prays for his acquittal on the charge of murder and that he be found guilty on a lesser charge of culpable homicide," said Ncube.

The trial continues on Wednesday.