Three Jailed for Murder in Bulawayo, Chipinge

Bulawayo — Three men have been sentenced to a combined 100 years in prison for separate murder cases in Bulawayo and Chipinge, including the killing of a man during an attack on a couple near a cemetery and the murder of a woman by her husband in a domestic violence case..

Kholisani Nyathi (28) and Walter Mpunzi (27), both from Bulawayo, were handed 40 and 35 years respectively by the Bulawayo High Court for the May 2021 attack on a couple near Hyde Park Cemetery.

The attack occurred on May 12, 2021, at around 6.30 pm when the couple were walking home along a footpath through the cemetery.

After the attack, Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) said, the husband later died from injuries sustained during the assault, while his wife suffered stab wounds.

The court also heard that the attack involved an attempted rape.

The two men were initially arrested on May 16, 2021, by police in Magwegwe in connection with a separate assault and robbery cases in Bulawayo’s western suburbs.

However, subsequent investigations by detectives from the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) Homicide in Bulawayo linked them to the cemetery attack.

Nyathi was convicted of murder and attempted rape while Mpunzi was convicted of murder.

Justice Munamato Mutevedzi sentenced Nyathi to 40 years in prison and Mpunzi to 35 years.

In a separate case in Chipinge, 20-year-old Leopold Mhlanga of Village Haraisi, under Chief Musikavanhu, was recently sentenced to 25 years in prison for murdering his wife following a domestic dispute in February 2025.

The woman's decomposing body was discovered in a maize field on March 8, 2025, after she had been reported missing.

Police investigations established that she had last been seen on February 22, 2025, prompting the filing of a missing-person report.

Mhlanga was arrested on March 12, 2025, and reportedly confessed to killing his wife.

He appeared before the Mutare High Court on October 27, 2026, where Justice Sijabuliso Siziba sentenced him to 25 years in prison.

The State was represented by Elaine Kanengoni in the Bulawayo case and Malvin Musarurwa in the Mutare matter.

In a statement dated November 4, 2026, Detective Inspector Rachel Muteweri from the Criminal Investigation Department said the convictions demonstrate the outcomes of investigations into serious violent crimes and commended the courts for their role in bringing offenders to justice.