GWERU
—
After
a
dramatic
international
manhunt
spanning
four
years
and
multiple
countries,
fugitive
murder
accused
Peter
Dube
has
been
convicted
of
two
counts
of
murder
and
two
counts
of
attempted
murder
by
the
Bulawayo
High
Court.
He
now
awaits
sentencing
after
a
damning
judgment
by
Justice
Munamato
Mutevedzi.
The
court
found
that
Dube
unleashed
“unmitigated
violence”
on
the
night
of
April
22,
2021,
killing
Shelton
Chiduku
and
Gamuchirai
Madungwe
and
shooting
Nyasha
Nharingo
and
Nyaradzo
Nharingo,
leaving
both
women
seriously
injured.
Nyaradzo
later
died
from
the
complications
of
her
wounds,
a
fact
the
judge
noted
with
concern.
He
was
accusing
his
friend
Chiduku,
who
was
a
gold
dealer
based
in
Kwekwe,
of
having
an
affair
with
his
girlfriend,
Nyasha.
“The
medieval
ruthlessness
with
which
the
violence
manifested
was
said
to
have
shaken
the
usually
sleepy
town
of
Gweru,”
Justice
Mutevedzi
wrote.

The
judge
rejected
Dube’s
claim
that
he
had
been
suffering
from
mental
illness
at
the
time,
describing
his
defence
as
malingering,
calculated,
and
unsupported
by
evidence.
After
the
shootings,
Dube
–
who
ran
a
popular
car
sale
in
Gweru
–
vanished
from
Zimbabwe.
The
judgment
reveals
for
the
first
time
the
full
details
of
his
escape.
Justice
Mutevedzi
detailed
how
Dube
fled
Gweru
the
same
night,
assisted
by
his
senior
wife,
Nomatter
Chawana.
He
crossed
into
South
Africa,
moved
on
to
Eswatini
and
acquired
a
false
Mozambican
identity.
He
subsequently
flew
to
Ireland,
where
he
lived
undetected
for
years.
“By
his
own
admission,
he
escaped
with
the
aid
of
his
senior
wife…
acquired
a
pseudonym…
and
used
it
to
fly
to
and
settle
in
Ireland,”
the
court
said.

His
cover
was
blown
abroad,
resulting
in
him
being
deported
first
to
Mozambique,
where
he
was
disowned,
and
then
to
Zimbabwe.
The
judgment
paints
a
vivid
and
harrowing
picture
of
the
violence.
Earlier
that
day,
Nyasha
and
her
sister
Nyaradzo
had
travelled
to
Masvingo
with
their
friends,
the
now-deceased
Shelton
and
Gamu,
to
collect
a
passport.
On
their
return,
they
found
Dube
had
locked
himself
in
their
apartment.
When
police
briefly
intervened
and
left,
the
situation
deteriorated
quickly.
Dube
went
downstairs,
armed
himself
with
a
gun,
and
confronted
Shelton
and
Gamu
in
the
car
park.
“At
point-blank
range,
he
shot
Shelton
and
killed
him
instantly…
Gamu
tried
to
flee.
Unfortunately,
she
couldn’t
go
far.
She
was
also
shot
and
died
on
the
spot.”

Consumed
by
what
the
judge
called
an
“implacable
rage,”
Dube
then
stormed
upstairs.
Justice
Mutevedzi
went
on:
“From
very
close
range,
he
shot
Nyasha…
The
bullet
entered
her
cheek
and
exited
the
other
side
of
the
neck.
He
then
took
aim
at
Nyaradzo…
The
bullet
found
its
mark
just
above
her
right
eye…
Her
eye
was
ruptured.
Satisfied
with
his
grisly
handiwork,
the
accused
nonchalantly
walked
out
and
left
the
scene
which
resembled
a
graveyard.”

Dube
claimed
he
suffered
from
temporal
lobe
epilepsy,
saying
he
had
no
recollection
of
the
shootings
and
that
he
was
mentally
incapacitated.
But
Justice
Mutevedzi
found
the
testimony
of
State
psychiatrist
Dr
Nemache
Mawere
compelling.
The
expert
described
Dube
as
evasive,
inconsistent,
and
deliberately
theatrical
during
examinations.
The
judge
cited
Dr
Mawere’s
observation
that:
“The
accused
was
simply
play-acting…
His
gestures
were
not
sequential…
He
was
trying
to
run
away
from
punishment.”

The
court
also
noted
that
Dube
managed
a
sophisticated
escape
across
several
countries,
maintained
relationships
with
both
wives,
managed
his
businesses,
and
navigated
foreign
immigration
systems
–
actions
wholly
incompatible
with
severe
mental
illness.
“The
conduct
of
the
accused
after
the
commission
of
the
offence
did
not
align
with
a
person
who
had
lost
his
memory,”
the
judge
said.

Ultimately,
Justice
Mutevedzi
concluded
that
the
defence
had
“failed
to
prove,
on
a
balance
of
probabilities,”
that
Dube
was
mentally
disordered
at
the
time
–
the
legal
threshold
required
for
a
special
verdict
of
insanity.
Justice
Mutevedzi
expressed
disquiet
about
Nyaradzo’s
later
death.
She
never
recovered
from
her
gunshot
injuries
and
later
died,
yet
prosecutors
did
not
charge
Dube
with
her
murder.
“Why
then
that
death
was
not
added
to
the
list
of
murders
can
only
be
explained
by
prosecution,”
he
said.
The
role
of
Dube’s
senior
wife
also
bothered
the
judge.
She
helped
him
flee,
yet
was
never
questioned.
“She
possibly
committed
a
crime…
but
nobody
ever
raised
an
eyebrow
against
her,”
the
judge
remarked.

With
the
insanity
defence
rejected,
and
with
Dube
admitting
he
shot
the
victims,
while
claiming
memory
loss,
the
court
found
him
guilty
of
all
four
charges
–
two
counts
of
murder
and
two
counts
of
attempted
murder.
Justice
Mutevedzi
said
that
the
killings
were
deliberate,
targeted,
and
executed
with
chilling
calmness.
Dube
now
awaits
sentencing.