HIGH Court judge Justice Munamato Mutevedzi yesterday sentenced to death Tapiwa Makore Snr (60) and Tafadzwa Shamba (40) for the murder of a Murehwa boy.
Mutevedzi said the duo showed no mercy and behaved like animals when they killed Tapiwa Makore Jnr, who was seven by then three years ago.
He said their objective to kill the hapless boy showed that the murder was premeditated.
“The accused person forced their victim to drink an illicit brew … in reality the accused persons poisoned the victim into a comatose. That is an aggravating circumstance,” Justice Mutevedzi ruled.
“When the boy was dead, they defiled his body. The deceased’s head has not been found up to now. The deliberate mutilation of the body after murder is another aggravation.”
The judge said the duo was determined to cover its tracks by mutilating the body and burying it in a shallow grave.
Justice Mutevedzi said the death sentence was premised on the way they killed the child.
After he delivered his judgment, some family members cheered while others cried.
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Some relatives who talked to the media said they wished the duo would reveal where they hid Makore Jnr’s head.
Makore Jnr was murdered in September 2020 in cold blood before his body was chopped to pieces.
The murder shook the nation.
His torso was found being mauled by dogs while his other body parts were located in a pit latrine.
His remains were buried a year later.
The two had pleaded not guilty to the charges during trial, although Shamba confessed and gave a graphic depiction of how the murder was committed.
The judge said the evidence made it clear that Shamba killed the boy, while Makore Snr ably assisted him.
