Death sentence for murderer

A HIGH Court judge yesterday sentenced a Hwedza man to death for the constructive murder of his employer in 2015 and throwing the body into Rhodesville Dam.

Tapiwa Murombo was yesterday found guilty of the premeditated murder of Partson Musarandoga by High Court judge, Justice Priscillah Munangati-Manongwa.

Musarandoga's body was found in the dam days after he went missing. Murombo was arrested after a high speed chase by the police along the Harare-Chirundu Highway.

The convict had denied the charge, saying he did not murder Musarandoga since he parted with him after he had agreed to give him a vehicle in lieu of a US$4 000 debt.

But Justice Munangati-Manongwa ruled that Murombo had failed to exonerate himself of the murder.

"The court finds that the reasons advanced were not such as to convince the court not to pass the death sentence. In essence, after taking all factors into account, this court finds that there are no circumstances of a mitigating nature that would call for a lesser sentence.

"Neither a life sentence nor a sentence of not less than 20 years will meet the justice of the case," Munangati Manongwa ruled.

She said  Murombo was not in the group that is excluded from the death sentence as stipulated by section 48(2)(c) of the Constitution.

"The accused shall be returned to prison, be held until the execution of the sentence according to law," she ruled.

In 2015, Murombo allegedly struck Musarandoga on the head with an axe at a farm along the Hwedza Highway before disappearing.

After committing the crime, Murombo forged a suicide note directing him to sell properties from the deceased's home. Following a tip-off, the police pursued him along the Harare-Chirundu Highway in a high-speed chase. He was shot on the leg as he tried to escape.