Two killer siblings from the Midlands province have been sentenced to death by hanging after they ganged up and killed a Bulawayo taxi driver before they also murdered a shop owner from Inyathi and stole property worth more than US$6 000.
The two, Freddy Dube (36) of Toro Village in Lower Gweru, and Thinkwell Moyo (38) of Silobela were born by the same mother, but share different fathers.
They were convicted of having ghastly axed Dumenkosini Sibanda, a 26-year-old Bulawayo pirate taxi driver, who they also robbed of his car, an ex-Japanese Honda Fit jallopy on April 16, 2018. On another occasion, the duo travelled to Inyathi in Matabeleland North where they gruesomely stabbed Andile Ncube (21), a flea market trader.
They robbed the deceased of his merchandise which they loaded into the stolen Honda Fit.
They were both convicted of the two charges when they appeared before Bulawayo High Court judge, Justice Nokuthula Moyo. Justice Moyo said it was clear that the convicted murderers acted with an actual intent when they butchered their two victims over a short space of time.
“The courts have a duty to protect the sanctity of life through imposing harsh sentences to people like you. The two accused persons cannot escape capital punishment in the circumstances and accordingly, you are both sentenced to death by hanging,” ruled Justice Moyo.
Apparently unfazed, the two killer brothers told Justice Moyo that they were breadwinners of their respective families and, did not therefore deserve capital punishment. However, Justice Moyo ruled that the murders were motivated by greed, saying:
“It is clear that the accused persons acted with an actual intent when they violently butchered the two deceased persons in order to dispossess them of their belongings. They killed two people over a short period of time and these murders were committed in aggravating circumstances warranting capital punishment”.
State Media
