'Serial killer' fit to stand trial, doctors conclude

DOCTORS who examined "serial killer," Rodney Tongai Jindu, concluded that there was no evidence of mental illness.

According a medical report, doctors observed that Jindu is fully alert and oriented in all aspects, mentally stable and fit to stand trial.

The report stated that there were no facts indicating any form of mental disorder or defects in Jindu.

Jindu's trial, which was supposed to start in October last year, failed to kick off after he pretended to be mentally ill, claiming that he ate human flesh. A new trial date has not yet been set.

Jindu claimed that he sliced off some body parts and also removed the brains of his two victims before eating them.

Following that, Bulawayo High Court judge Justice Nokuthula Moyo ruled that he should be examined by two doctors to ascertain his mental condition in terms of the Mental Health Act.

Jindu (27), who is currently on remand at Khami Remand Prison, made headlines last year in connection with the deaths of Mboneli Joko Ncube and Cyprian Kudzurunga.

He allegedly shot dead Kudzurunga (28) of Queens Park East on January 29 last year, buried him in a shallow grave in Burnside suburb and sent a message to the deceased's mother pretending to be her son who had suddenly decided to leave the country.

Jindu, who is facing two counts of murder, also allegedly stole Kudzurunga's laptop and cellphone which he sold in the city centre.

He also allegedly shot Ncube and dismembered the body and set the parts on fire before burying them in four shallow graves.

Jindu told the court that after killing the two victims, he hired two men to dig the graves. He said the two men assisted him to place the two bodies in shallow graves.

In his defence through his lawyer, Mr Tanaka Muganyi of Tanaka Law Chambers, Jindu said he was intoxicated when he committed the offences after allegedly taking heroin and methamphetamine, a synthetic drug used illegally as a stimulant and as a prescription drug to maintain blood pressure.

Jindu said he developed the urge to murder his two victims so that he could experiment following an alleged general assumption that killing a human being resulted in a mental deficiency.

Jindu was arrested in June last year after inconsistent statements to the police after Kudzurunga went missing. He allegedly later confessed to killing the two victims and led police to their shallow graves.

According to State papers, on January 12 last year, Jindu drove to a supermarket situated between Robert Mugabe Way and 11th Avenue and met Ncube.

They proceeded to Burnside suburb, but the motive of the trip was not mentioned in court papers.

On arrival in Burnside, Jindu pulled out an Optima pistol serial number 13752 from his car and allegedly shot Ncube twice on the chest and he died on the spot.

He then chopped the body into pieces before burying parts of the in four different shallow graves.

On January 29, Jindu was in the company of Kudzurunga walking from Glengarry to Queens Park East. Jindu was armed with an Optima pistol serial number 13752.

After walking for a while, Jindu, who was walking behind Kudzurunga, fired one shot from behind and shot him on the head and abdomen twice and he fell down and died on the spot. He took his cellphone and laptop.

Jindu rushed back home and hid the pistol and the now deceased's laptop in his workshop. He took a wheelbarrow and returned to the murder scene. He shoved the body into a plastic bag, loaded it onto the wheelbarrow and pushed it back home.

He later drove to Burnside where he secretly buried the body at a vacant residential stand. Jindu took the deceased's cellphone and laptop and sold them for $400.

Police investigations led to his arrest and he confessed that he killed the deceased and made indications which led to the recovery of the body.

The stolen goods and firearm used in committing the offences were recovered.