High Court ruling over Ximex Mall dealer’s suspected murderer causes uproar

Harare- HIGH Court judge Siyabona Musithu’s ruling on suspected murderer has caused an uproar as some sections of the citizens have accused him of being coerced by fellow colleague to give an “unfair” ruling against his son who was implicated in the matter ,Express Mail Zim can report.

The suspected murderer is Munyaradzi Jnr (23), son to Justice Garainesu Mawadze.

He was accused of murdering Ximex Mall cellphone dealer Sipho ‘Million’ Ncube in 2020 and a Harare magistrate gave the investigating officer a warrant authorising him to to collect blood samples from the then University of Zimbabwe student , who confessed to the crime soon after his apprehension along with two accomplices namely Elvin Dongo Saungweme and Dellon Balani.

The High Court this week upheld Mawadze’s argument that the section of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act used in issuing the warrant does not include production of bodily tissues without consent of the owner.

“On his part, the third respondent (the magistrate) just issued the warrant without paying much attention to the quoted sections of the law to determine if they really applied to the application before him.”

He added:
“This kind of (inattention) to detail is so gross and cannot be countenanced by this court. In view of the foregoing observations, the only inescapable conclusion this court can reach is that the warrant was not issued in accordance with the law.

“That makes it irregular and consequently invalid. There is no warrant that the applicant is expected to comply with. In light of these findings, it becomes unnecessary for this court to interrogate the other grounds for review which were premised on the supposition that the warrant of search and seizure was valid.”

Mawadze had submitted that his blood samples were of little relevance to the case since police had samples of the deceased’s blood which could be matched against the blood stains found on his clothes.

Interestingly, when Munyaradzi Jnr was arrested he confessed to committing the heinous act and implicated his two friends after interrogation by officers from the Criminal Investigations Department (Homicide).

Details are that on March 12, the trio approached the Ximex Mall cell phone dealer and masqueraded as prospective buyers. The trio allegedly ‘kidnapped’ Sipho before robbing him of four handsets in Waterfalls.

After resisting, the trio stabbed Million to death and dumped his corpse in a bushy area in Ruwa, in a bid to conceal their crime.

Munyaradzi was caught in Masvingo after detectives received information that he was the last person to be seen in the company of the late Sipho.

Police interrogated him and he admitted to killing Sipho and led detectives to the near decomposed body.

Investigations by this publication established that Munyaradzi was ‘broken’ since the death of his mother who died in a car accident in 2018.

“The young man has a weird behaviour, very quiet and unpredictable ever since his mother died.

“He was the deputy head at Lord Malvern High school.

“At one time he faked robbery at his house and his father’s car was stripped.

“I have a strong feeling that he was hooked on drugs,” said a source that stays in the same neighbourhood.

The trio were recently indicted for trial at the High Court for the murder committed in 2020.

Munyaradzi Jnr claimed that detectives poured hot liquid on his private parts to force his confession.