News / National
Serial killer killed to harvest body parts on SA sangoma's instruction
15 Feb 2017 at 01:10hrs | Views
A SOUTH African inyanga has been linked to the murder of a Bulawayo man who was shot and killed by a suspected serial killer in the city.
The inyanga - only identified as Ndimande - allegedly enticed Rodney Tongai Jindu (26) of Glengarry suburb with promises of instant riches if he delivered the body of a person with a Ncube surname.
Jindu, who is on remand for the murders of his friends Mboneli Joko Ncube (30) and Cyprian Kudzurunga (28), was allegedly introduced to Ndimande by a man he went to college with in South Africa.
Senior police sources told The Chronicle last night that Ndimande and Jindu's unidentified collegemate came to Bulawayo sometime last month and approached him with a proposal to harvest body parts for ritual purposes.
They said Jindu then set in motion a plan to murder Ncube.
"On 12 January at about 7PM, Jindu met Ncube and his friend at a supermarket at the intersection of Robert Mugabe Way and 11th Avenue. They drove to Burnside where they dropped off Ncube's friend who lives in the same suburb before proceeding to number 13 Westmount Road – a vacant residential stand.
"Ncube had been told that they were going to meet Ndimande to discuss a business proposal. Once they got to the site, Jindu asked Ncube to lead the way towards the cottage. He then cocked his gun but told Ncube not to worry as he was doing it in case there were snakes around.
"He then shot him once and he fell but did not die instantly. The second shot finished him off. Jindu then called Ndimande using a simcard he had been given specifically for the purposes of calling the inyanga. Ndimande came with some unidentified men and Jindu handed them the body," said a source familiar with the investigations.
On the same night, Jindu allegedly removed Ncube's simcard and inserted it into his phone before sending a message to the latter's mother informing her that he was leaving for South Africa.
"He did this to throw her off track - the same modus operandi he later used to sidetrack Kudzurunga's mother into thinking that her son had left the country," said the source.
According to the source, Ndimande and his men called Jindu on the morning of January 13 and handed him the remains of Ncube with several body parts missing.
A post-mortem report released yesterday revealed that apart from the hand, head and both legs, the heart was also missing from the body of Ncube.
"When we interviewed him, he was visibly frustrated that Ndimande was no longer reachable and might never pay him for the job.
"He also told us Ndimande had said he should urinate and conduct some rituals on the four sites where he buried Ncube's remains so that he could have good luck and attain riches," said the source.
It has also emerged that Jindu opened up to his friend, Kudzurunga, about the murder of Ncube on January 29 - the day he killed him. The two had spent the day drinking alcohol at Jindu's home.
"The matter was eating him inside and he decided to offload to his close friend. It seems Kudzurunga was shocked by the revelation that Jindu had murdered their mutual friend and this unsettled the latter.
"They argued over the matter but Kudzurunga could not stomach the disturbing news. That's when Jindu decided to kill him," said the source.
Jindu (25) allegedly shot Kudzurunga before before burying him in a shallow grave next to Ncube's remains.
A DNA report set to be released this week is expected to confirm the identity of the mutilated remains found in Burnside.
Jindu allegedly told investigators the body is that of Ncube who was last seen with him on January 12 this year.
He allegedly cut the dismembered body into four pieces, burnt them and buried them in four shallow graves.
Police arrested Jindu on February 3 for allegedly killing Kudzurunga .
He was remanded in custody to February 21 for both murder cases and the magistrate advised him to apply to the High Court for bail.
Source - chronicle
