Teenage boy murd£rs aunt with log, rap£s corpse

A BEITBRIDGE teenager allegedly fatally struck his 53-year-old aunt with a log, rap€d her as she lay unconscious, and stole her R1 700 before proceeding to his neighbour’s home where he k¡lled the woman together with her two minor children and burnt their bodies.

The callous murd£r occurred in Beitbridge in April 2021.

Jethro Mukhove Gumbo (18) of Fula Village under Chief Matibe area in Beitbridge District is facing four counts of murd£r in connection with the d£ath of his aunt, Maria Gumbo and Ever Mbedzi (23) including her two daughters, Thanganedzo (6) and Pindulo (5).

Gumbo is expected to appear at the Bulawayo High Court on November 2 for trial.

The suspect, who was 16 years at the time, allegedly struck his aunt with a log while she was busy working in the field and the woman d¡ed on the spot. He dragged the body to the field entrance where he dumped it before proceeding to Mbedzi’s homestead in the same area.

Upon arrival at Mbedzi’s place, Gumbo fatally struck the woman on the chest twice with a log before strangling her two daughters to d£ath.

According to State papers, on April 23, 2021, Gumbo went to Ms Elizabeth Moyo’s field in Fula village where he found his aunt working. He allegedly struck her on the head with a log and she d¡ed on the spot.

“Gumbo went on rape the deceased before stealing R1 700 which was hidden in his aunt’s bra. He dragged the body to the field entrance where he dumped it and fled from the scene,” read the court papers.

The body was discovered by Ms Moyo after she had gone to her field to check the deceased. She reported the matter to the police. The post-mortem report stated that the d£ath was caused by a head injury, multiple scalp lacerations, bleeding from the head, and hypovolemic shock.

Minutes later, Gumbo went to Mbedzi’s homestead where he found the woman with her two daughters.

“The accused person went to Sathulani Mbedzi’s homestead in Fula Village under Chief Matibe where he assaulted Ever Mbedzi on the chest twice with a log leading to her death. He then went on to assault Pindulo Mbedzi and Thanganedzo Mbedzi before strangling them resulting in their deaths,” read court papers.

“The accused then burnt the remains of the three deceased in a kitchen hut. He also burnt another hut at the homestead and fled.”

According to the post-mortem report, the cause of the trio’s d£ath could not be ascertained due to severe burns.

In his warned and cautioned statement, Gumbo admitted that he committed the alleged offences.

“I went to the field where I found Maria Gumbo uprooting groundnuts. I told her to stop since we had agreed that she should do so when the groundnuts got dry. We had an altercation and she then picked a watermelon and struck me on the back which angered me,” he said.

“I then picked a log and struck her on the back of the head and she fell down and became unconscious. I then took out her undergarment and had s£x with her after which I took her money which was in her breasts before dragging her to the field entrance.”

Gumbo said he went to Mbedzi’s homestead where he entered the hut through the window before attacking the woman and her two children.

“I struck Ever Mbedzi with a log on the chest and bit her children Thanganedzo and Pindulo on the neck. I was actually sent by evil spirits to visit the deceased’s home,” he stated in his warned and cautioned statement.

Sixteen witnesses, among them, detectives and two pathologists, Dr Lenos Samhere and Dr Sanganayi Pesanai, are expected to testify when the trial begins.

Ms Nozabelo Ndlovu of Ndlovu-Dube Associates is representing Gumbo. Chronicle