Man hammers granny,88, to death

A 21-YEAR-OLD Fort Rixon man struck an 88-year-old woman to death with a hammer, accusing her of witchcraft and using him to scoop soil from a grave.

The accused person, Thulani Ndlovu who resides at Rivertone Farm in Fort Rixon, in his warned caution statement, admitted to striking to death the now deceased Cecilia Masuku three times with a two-pound hammer on the head after "I became haunted by spirits caused by my tampering with the grave".

"I do admit to the charges of killing granny Masuku. I got to the old lady's homestead and broke the fence to get into the yard. I opened the bedroom window and pushed the wardrobe which was by the window and then entered the room through the window," said Ndlovu.

Ndlovu added that Masuku inquired on who was inside her bedroom, but he ignored her proceeding to take a hammer behind the door and striking Masuku on the head, leading to her fall.

"When she tried to get up, I again struck her below the ear. I struck her for the third time again," he said.

"I left her dead and escaped through the window. The reason I killed Masuku is because she asked me to bring her soil from a graveyard in exchange for a heifer. She further promised to cleanse me. However, she refused to cleanse me and give me a heifer as promised. I then became haunted by the spirit of the dead person from whom I collected the graveyard soil, leaving me angry and leading me to kill the old lady."

However, 57-year-old Fanuel Chiwiro, Masuku's boyfriend, in his witness statement, alleged that when he found Masuku dead, he suspected Ndlovu had killed her as he once raped her.

He added that after the rape, Ndlovu escaped to an unknown location.

"I do not know the accused person in connection with this case only but he once raped the now deceased. On 11 September 2014, I went to the homestead of the now deceased but I could not locate her because her house was locked from outside," said Chiwiro.

"On 12 September, I went to her bedroom again in the company of other villagers and I peeped through the window. There was no one on the bed and the blankets had fallen off the bed. I entered the bedroom via the window. While inside I discovered that the now deceased was lying on the floor covered with a blanket facing down. There was a blood stained hammer next to her and a pool of blood coming from the now deceased's head."

Another witness, Nomsa Masuku, who resided with the accused, alleged that Ndlovu said Satan was in him and the devil used him when he heard that Masuku had been murdered.

Sergeant Tawanda Tinhu who attended to the crime scene, said a blood-stained pair of khaki trousers that Ndlovu wore when he committed the murder were found hidden in the bushes near the accused's homestead and would be used in court with the hammer as exhibits.

Ndlovu is at Khami Prison and will appear at the High Court in the second term of 2015.