Tapiwa Makore accused murderers convicted, to be s...

Tapiwa Makore accused murderers convicted, to be sentenced on July 12

Justice For Tapiwa Makore: Murder Suspects Await Verdict In Harare High Court

Two accused persons in the Tapiwa Makore murder case have been found guilty by High court judge Justice Munamato Mutevedzi who will hand down sentence on July 12.

Seven-year old Tapiwa was in September 2020 gruesomely killed, allegedly for ritual purposes, leading to the initial arrest of four suspects – Tafadzwa Shamba, Tapiwa Makore Snr, Maud Hunidzarira and Thanks Makore.

The latter two were acquitted for lack of evidence linking them to the murder.

Delivering judgement Thursday, Justice Mutevedzi said the court was satisfied with the evidence tabled by the prosecution regardless of the accused denying the charges.

However, soon after arrest and in indications to police, Shamba had confessed to killing the minor and explicitly described how he had gone about it.

“Shamba is guilty beyond reasonable doubt as required by the law. Shamba be and is hereby found guilty for the murder of Tapiwa, while Makore Snr is found guilty for the murder of Tapiwa as an accomplice.

“The court is satisfied that the statement by Shamba was acceptable and confirms that he committed the offence.

“He explained in graphic detail. That detail elaborates his intimate details regarding commission of the crime.

“The first accused’s situation, is compounded by other issues. He did not only confess, he made indications, he pointed to a house the boy was detained, the container which was containing the illicit brew was also found in the same house.

“Accused one’s fate is sealed by the fact that body parts were found through his confession,” noted judge Mutevedzi.

He said while second accused, Makore senior’s hand may not have been clearly visible in the commission of the crime, his participation in many ways was evident.

“The victim was detained in his house. He supplied alcohol which was used to drug the victim and he did not dispute these allegations.

“The question which arises is whether he supplied means for Shamba to commit this offence. The child was locked in his house for long hours, in fact for around eight hours. It is unimaginable that he wouldn’t have noticed the presence of the boy in his house,” added the judge.

It is the State’s case that on the morning of September 17, 2020, Tapiwa Makore Junior was asked by his parents to tend the garden.

Later, when his parents went to the garden to water the plants, they discovered that their son was missing. They and some villagers searched for him until midnight but to no avail.

The following morning, a neighbour found his dog and its puppies feasting on human body parts in his yard. He informed Tapiwa’s parents, and a police report was made. Unfortunately, the head of the body was missing.

Tafadzwa Shamba, a herdboy, was arrested on September 24, 2020, in connection with the kidnapping and murder of Tapiwa Makore Junior. Shamba was accused of conspiring with two others to kill Tapiwa, harvest his body parts, and sell them for US$1,500.

The police alleged that Shamba worked with the other suspects to kidnap Tapiwa from a garden and then took him to a mountain where they kept him for the whole day. They then killed him at night, and one of the other suspects took away the head, leaving Shamba with the other body parts.

Tapiwa was buried six months after being murdered, but without his head which has never been found.