Fugitive suspected killer arrested in Ireland
THE long arm of the law finally caught up with fugitive Gweru businessman Peter Dube, who is wanted in connection with three counts of murder, one attempted murder case and violation of immigration laws, after he was arrested in Ireland on Wednesday.
He now faces extradition after the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) successfully secured a provisional international arrest warrant. Dube (37) was arrested last week after nearly three years on the run for allegedly gunning down his second wife, her suspected lover and a female friend in cold blood.
He subsequently skipped the country and ended up in South Africa, where he changed his identity, then relocated to Ireland.
Police in Ireland — who are referred to as An Garda Síochán (Guardians of the Peace of Ireland) — launched a criminal investigation following The Sunday Mail’s exposé published in April detailing how Dube used an alias (Xolile Mtsali) to dupe Irish officials into granting him asylum after allegedly killing three people in Zimbabwe.
Shane Lyons, a press officer with the Irish police, told this paper that the suspect has since appeared in court.
“A male in his late 30s was arrested on Wednesday, June 14, 2023, for alleged offences, contrary to the Criminal Justice (Theft and Fraud Offences) Act of 2001,” he said.
“The male has appeared before the district court and is currently remanded in custody. As the male is currently before the court, An Garda Síochána has no further comment at this time.”
Extradition
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has since initiated legal proceedings to extradite the suspect.
NPA head of the international cooperation and anti-terrorism unit Mr Clement Chimbare yesterday confirmed that a provisional arrest warrant had been issued against Dube.
ZRP is now expected to transmit the warrant to Ireland’s law-enforcement authorities through the International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol). Dube had been placed on Interpol’s Red Notice, a request to law-enforcement agencies worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition.
“Police requested the provisional arrest warrant and they have been given the warrant,” he said.
“The provisional arrest warrant enables the law-enforcement authorities of a foreign jurisdiction to provisionally arrest and detain him while we formally write a request for his extradition. His extradition allows the country to prosecute him for the crimes he would have committed in the country.”
Police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi said police were waiting for the extradition process to take place.
“The ZRP now awaits the normal legal extradition process for him to be taken back into the country,” he said.
It is alleged that on April 23, 2021, Dube, who was a car dealer, approached his second wife, Nyasha Nharingo, and her suspected lover Shelton Chinhango — also a car dealer — who was seated in a minibus parked outside a flat in Gweru’s central business district, where she lived.
He fatally shot Chinhango at close range and turned the gun on his second wife’s best friend, Gamuchirai Mudungwe, whom he shot in the chest.
She died instantly.
He went on to shoot Nyasha and her sister Nyaradzo.
The two sisters were rushed to hospital, where Nyaradzo died on admission.
It is believed Dube and Nyasha had a long-standing dispute, with the former convinced that she was involved in an adulterous affair.
Earlier investigations by this paper indicated that five months after the shootings, Dube allegedly changed his identity and acquired a passport (A09465267) in Eswatini on October 28, 2021.
He later used the passport to move to Ireland, where he applied for asylum, before being accommodated at Red Cow Moran Hotel in Dublin.
The fugitive also later assisted his wife, Nomatter Chawana, and children to acquire new identities.
His luck, however, ran out on Wednesday last week, when he was taken into custody by police.
-SundayMail-
