Fidelis Munyoro
FROM the tobacco fields of Marondera, the horror of Tapiwa Mereka to a polygamist’s reign of terror, it was another year when MURDER hogged the headlines in the High Court.
And, as the curtains start coming down on another legal year, we look back at some of the murder cases which captured the headlines.
APRIL − THE TRAGEDY OF CHIMANI AND PORTIA
In the tobacco fields of Marondera, betrayal and heartbreak brewed a storm darker than the night sky.
Chimani Tsambola, tormented by the collapse of his marriage, turned his anguish into fury on a fateful October evening in 2018.
Gripping an iron bar, he sought out his estranged wife, Portia Masaiti, in a neighbour’s compound.
What followed was a crescendo of rage — a brutal, merciless attack that ended in blood-soaked walls and a home engulfed in flames.
Portia’s lifeless body lay crumpled as Chimani fled, haunted by his crime. Caught days later, gaunt and hollow-eyed, he claimed self-defence.
But the evidence painted a chilling picture of premeditated violence.
Justice Munamato Mutevedzi condemned him to 35 years in prison, his words a damning indictment of toxic possessiveness.
“If I can’t have you, then no one will.”
Now, in the solitude of his cell, Chimani’s regrets echo louder than his rage ever did, as he relives the love he destroyed with every passing day.
JUNE − A CHILD’S MISTAKE, A LIFE CUT SHORT
In Chinhoyi, a courtroom became the stage for an emotionally charged reckoning.
A boy, trembling in oversized khaki shorts, stood accused of taking the life of a 14-year-old girl.
A moment of petty mockery spiralled into a deadly confrontation, culminating in a single, fatal knife strike.
Her grieving father’s voice cracked as he described a promising life extinguished, while the boy’s tragic story of abandonment and hardship painted a portrait of a child forced to grow up too soon.
Justice Catherine Bachi-Mzawazi’s judgment was a masterclass in humanity.
“A child thinks like a child, acts like a child,” she reminded the court, rejecting calls for harsh punishment.
In a rare act of restorative justice, the boy was sentenced to three years at Kadoma Training Institute, not for retribution, but for redemption.
The courtroom exhaled as the judge’s words lingered:
“It is our duty to guide them, not condemn them to a path of no return.”
JUNE − THE HORROR OF TAPIWA MEREKA
In Kwekwe, a tale of unimaginable cruelty unfolded, leaving even hardened court officials reeling.
Tapiwa Mereka, consumed by dark desires, bludgeoned his aunt, Mary, with an axe before violating her dying body.
His chilling confession, “I had no valid reason, I just felt I had to kill her”, left the courtroom in stunned silence.
Justice Munamato Mutevedzi, visibly shaken, delivered a blistering judgment, calling Tapiwa’s actions “Oscar-worthy for horror.”
Sentenced to life imprisonment, Tapiwa was condemned not only for his crime but as a warning about the fragility of morality.
The judge’s haunting words captured the gravity of the case:
“He is someone whose soul must be left to God to correct.”
JULY − BETRAYAL IN THE MASHONGA FAMILY AND A RITUAL KILLING
In Hurungwe’s Mashonga Village, the Mashonga family awoke to a living nightmare – a blood-soaked kitchen floor and the headless body of their daughter, Dadirai.
Her brother, Isaac, had turned on her in a grotesque act of betrayal, spurred by promises of US$4,000 in a ritual killing orchestrated by a local businessman.
Justice Phildah Muzofa delivered a scathing judgment, condemning Isaac’s greed and calculating evil.
“How does a man slaughter his own blood and sleep soundly?” she asked, her voice heavy with disbelief.
Despite Isaac’s blindness and youth, the court sentenced him to 20 years, a punishment tempered by his disability but firm in its demand for accountability.
For the Mashonga family, the scars run deeper than the crime itself.
“I have lost two children,” the patriarch lamented, one to death, the other to the darkness of his own soul.
DECEMBER − A POLYGAMIST’S REIGN OF TERROR
Gweru’s courtroom bore witness to the chilling judgment of Peter Dube, a polygamist who unleashed carnage upon his family.
Driven by jealousy, Dube accused his second wife, Nyasha, of infidelity and opened fire in a calculated spree of violence.
He killed two bystanders and left Nyasha and her sister Nyaradzo gravely injured.
Nyaradzo later succumbed to her wounds, her life reduced to a series of agonising memories.
Justice Mutevedzi’s words cut through the courtroom like a blade: “
He treated his victims as objects, a sadist and a psychopath cloaked in the guise of love.”
Dube’s life sentence was a testament to the court’s resolve to protect society from calculated cruelty.
The judge’s closing words echoed with finality:
“The long-lasting impact on the victims’ families and society justifies the severest of sentences.”
A YEAR OF SHADOWS AND
RECKONING
The legal year of 2025 has been marked by stories of unfathomable cruelty, tragic mistakes, and the enduring struggle for justice.
From the fragile vulnerability of a child seeking redemption to the cold depravity of premeditated evil, these cases reveal the darkest corners of the human condition.
And yet, amid the despair, there remains a flicker of hope—a belief in the power of justice not just to punish, but to restore.
In the courts across the country, the gavel fell not just with authority, but with the weight of humanity’s endless dance between light and shadow.
These stories remind us of the profound complexities of justice and the resilience of those left behind to carry the burden of loss.
The post The legal year of 2025 was marked by shocking tales of cruelty, tragedy and an enduring quest for justice…A RITUAL KILLING, A POLYGAMIST’S DEADLY REIGN OF TERROR AND A KILLER WHO BLUDGEONED HIS AUNT AND THEN VIOLATED HER DYING BODY appeared first on herald.
The post The legal year of 2025 was marked by shocking tales of cruelty, tragedy and an enduring quest for justice…A RITUAL KILLING, A POLYGAMIST’S DEADLY REIGN OF TERROR AND A KILLER WHO BLUDGEONED HIS AUNT AND THEN VIOLATED HER DYING BODY appeared first on Zimbabwe Situation.