Nightclub murder: Killer’s friends fingered in plot to tamper with autopsy process

Harare- IN a bizzare development, friends and family of alleged nightclub killer Calisto Murawo are allegedly plotting to tamper with the autopsy process of the late Harare man David Matambo .

Murawo allegedly attacked and killed Matambo at a nightclub in Harare’s Belgravia suburb.

“There is an attempt to manipulate the autopsy process so the killer can get away with a less grievous charge which could result in a lesser sentence,”said a family source.

Murawo (44) was not asked to plead to a murder charge when he appeared before Harare magistrate Yeukai Dzuda this week.

She advised him to seek bail at the higher court due the gravity of his case.

But while Murawo was appearing in court, it has emerged that underhand maneuvers aimed at tampering with the postmortem procedure were in full swing.

Sources said the deceased man’s body was removed from the mortuary at Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals without the knowledge or consent of the family and they only discovered this anomaly when they arrived at the hospital to collect his body for autopsy.

This was despite the fact that the police had taken the body to Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals on Sunday after he was pronounced dead upon arrival at the hospital.

The sources said the body had been deposited at a mortuary belonging to a private funeral parlour raising eyebrows why this had been done without the knowledge and consent of the family.

The hospital sources said this has left many suspecting there is a plot to tamper with the autopsy process so as to manipulate its outcome to enable the killer to be convicted of a less severe charge than murder.

“The first point is that there is already foul play,” said one source.

“The family came to Parirenyatwa in the morning to collect the body to go for postmortem only to find out that the body was not there although the police had taken the body to Parirenyatwa on Sunday and Parirenyatwa Hospital now say the body was at Farewell Funeral Parlour near Fidelity.”

Another source said:

“To the frustration of the family they spend the whole day driving to Harare Hospital, Parirenyatwa all the way to Chitungwiza to try and have an autopsy to be done.”

Murawo, who has a history of violence, fatally attacked Matambo with a knuckle-duster, accusing his wife of reversing her car and bumping into another car in at the nightclub in Belgravia suburb .

Allegations are that on Saturday at Afro 161 Restaurant and Nightclub at 161 Sam Nujoma Street Extension in Belgravia, Harare, Murawo approached the now deceased and his wife Zinzi Musonza in the car park and alleged that Ms Musonza had bumped into another parked car.

Matambo, then came out of his motor vehicle to check where the dent was and while he was in the process of assessing the damage, Murawo punched him in the mouth with his hand which was holding a knuckle duster.

As Matambo fell Murawo started kicking him on the head and neck, proceeded to stamp on his neck, briefly halted the assault and walked away, but he then returned and kicked him for the last time on the head.

Matambo was taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Source:Online