Former police detective Jason Muvhevhi has been indicted for trial at the High Court on a triple homicide charge arising from a series of shootings that took place in Hwedza and Mutare in January.
Harare magistrate Ruth Moyo today committed Muvhevhi to the High Court, where he is expected to stand trial between 16 and 20 March.
His case was suspended in 2023 after two medical specialists, acting in terms of the Mental Health Act, found that he suffered from mental illness and was not fit to stand trial. He was then detained at Chikurubi Psychiatric Unit for treatment until he could be certified fit to be brought back to court.
According to the State, on 13 January, Muvhevhi went to Mutare Boys High School, where he allegedly fired three shots at Raphael Nyahwema after a dispute over food. Nyahwema was not hit in the incident, which forms the basis of the attempted murder charge.
Prosecutors allege that later that day, Muvhevhi arrived at an apostolic sect gathering and joined congregants at the shrine before drawing a firearm and fatally shooting the church leader, named in court as Kanerusine.
The State says police responded to the scene and that Inspector Maxwell Hove, the Officer in Charge for Hwedza Police Station, was among the team that went to investigate. Along the way, the officers allegedly intercepted Muvhevhi’s vehicle and attempted to stop him, whereupon he is said to have opened fire, shooting Hove and killing him on the spot.
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It is further alleged that Muvhevhi proceeded to Mukamba business center, where he shot and killed Mujanhi, who was working at a shop.
He allegedly fled the scene and was later arrested across the border after a regional manhunt.
The three deaths at the shrine, along the Hwedza road, and at the business center form the basis of the triple homicide charge outlined in the indictment, while the incident at Mutare Boys High School is the subject of the attempted murder count.
In previous court proceedings, police indicated that ballistic tests had cleared Muvhevhi of six other suspected murders in Harare and Chitungwiza, leaving him facing four counts of murder and two counts of attempted murder linked to alleged offenses in Harare, Hwedza, and Mutare.
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