BY PROBLEM MASAU NEW details have emerged of how Procter Saurombe, a 43-year-old cricket coach was killed mafia style before his body was hanged at the gate of his home in Glen Norah, Harare last week.
Multiple sources, who spoke to NewsDay yesterday, including family members and fellow imbibers, said Saurombe had an altercation with unidentified people at Gazebo Night Club at Spaceman Shopping Centre in Glen Norah hours before his death.
Saurombe, who had great passion for cricket, was coaching the under-14 team at Prince Edward School.
Saurombe’s sister, Pamela Chidemo said the family was still in shock and was trying to come to terms with the chilling incident.
Chidemo said post-mortem results showed that he died from unnatural causes.
“We heard that he had an argument with unidentified people at the bar. We have heard several theories on the nature of the argument, but we don’t want to divulge them because we feel that we are no longer safe,” she said.
“We found him with a deep cut on his thigh. He was also frothing to show that he died from strangulation. We believe they killed him before hanging his lifeless body on the gate to stage-manage his death.”
The family said the cricket coach’s death was not a robbery gone bad because all his belongings were intact except for his mobile phone.
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“The police found his keys and money in the pockets. He was a very sane person who would not try to jump a gate with spikes when he had keys,” Chidemo said.
A neighbour, who refused to be named, said on the fateful night, he saw a Honda Fit vehicle parked at Saurombe’s residence.
“There was a silver Honda Fit parked at the gate. The vehicle parked for some minutes before it vanished with its lights off. If he truly died from injuries sustained while trying to jump the gate, it is natural that we would have heard his cries for help since he had a deep cut on the thigh,” the neighbour said.
A reveller at the bar said Saurombe had an argument with some patrons.
“He exchanged harsh words with three people. One of the people said ‘I want your blood tonight’. The faces of the people were unfamiliar in the area,” the reveller said.
The late cricket coach was single and had no children. According to his friends, Saurombe had great passion for cricket and he was coaching the under-14 team at Prince Edward School.
Zimbabwe Cricket described Saurombe’s death as a loss to the sport.
“One of the brightest prospects to emerge in school cricket in the 1990s, Saurombe went on to make immense contributions to the sport as a club cricketer, development coach and umpire.
National police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi said he was not able to speak on the issue.
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