Mutekedza trial: Why he stabbed nurse ex-Miriam Nyazema to death

By Euan Mclelland

A British soldier (originally from Zimbabwe) stabbed a nurse to death after she broke off their affair when she ‘hit the jackpot’ with another man, a court heard.

Army private Josphat Mutekedza, 35, knifed 37-year old Miriam Nyazema in the face, chest and back in a fit of rage when she arrived home with her new boyfriend, it was claimed.

As Miss Nyazema lay dying in a neighbour’s garden with the blade still lodged in her back, Mutekedza battered her around the head with a stool shouting: ‘She’s caused this mess. I can’t believe what she’s done to me, it’s all her fault’, it was said.

He was also allegedly seen waving a handgun and called police saying: ‘She’s been cheating on me – sleeping with another man. Where’s that man, I’m going to f****** kill him.’

Miss Nyazema, who worked at a BUPA nursing home in Shaw near Oldham, Greater Manchester, was taken to hospital but died just over an hour later.

Her boyfriend Jacob Chigombe – who had been visiting her from his native Zimbabwe – was found hiding nearby.

Bolton Crown Court was told father-of-one Mutekedza, from Eastborne, East Sussex, had been engaged to the mother of his baby son but began an affair with the victim who lived in Rochdale.

Mark Kellet prosecuting said he would refer to his mistress as ‘Boo Boo’ and began spending time away from home.

Mr Kellet said: ‘His partner realised he was having an affair and in early 2014 they separated. On one occasion she checked his phone and saw a number of Miriam Nyazema and that was entered in the directory as “Boo Boo”.

‘He seemed to want to increase his commitment to Miriam Nyazema but it was clear Miriam did not feel the same.

‘She told work colleagues that the relationship had ended and she was now more interested in Jacob Chigombe. She said she had hit the jackpot.

‘Whatsapp messages make it clear that their relationship, if not sexual, was certainly romantic. Messages of love and desire were exchanged.’

On July 24 last year, Mutekedza went to visit Miriam at her home – one day before Chigombe was due to arrive in the UK.

During that visit Miriam ended her relationship with Mutekedza but the following morning she called police to her home saying he was still in the house and had refused to leave.

He left after being spoken to by the officers but over the next two days the pair exchanged numerous text and Whatsapp messages – with him saying he missed Miriam whilst she said she ‘needed time to sort her head out.’

On the day of the killing – July 28 – Mutekedza was seen at his barracks before sending text messages to Miriam saying: ‘Boo Boo – I’m coming now.’

That evening he turned at Miriam’s workplace but she managed to leave alone after a colleague distracted him. When he realised Miriam had gone Mutekedza hailed a cab and arrived at her home just as Miriam was about to get there with her new boyfriend, it was said.

Mr Kellet said neighbours heard a woman screaming outside and found her lying on her back, struggling to breathe.

He added: ‘The defendant was shouting: “I can’t believe what she’s done to me, it’s all her fault.” He walked back across the road and started smashing her car. The knife was still stuck in her back, the handle had snapped off.

‘The defendant then walked over holding a metal bar in one hand and a small table with the other. He hit her with such force to the stomach, it bounced off at head height. He then held out a hand gun which left them fearing for their lives.’

During a phone call to police, Mutekedza told an operator: ‘I’m in the house, she’s outside lay down, I don’t know who she’s with. I stabbed her myself. She’s got the knife. She’s been cheating on me, it was when I came home, she was with another man. He ran away. She’s lay down on the street. I don’t know where I stabbed her, I didn’t check. I’m making violence.’

Police dashed to the scene to find Chigombe in a side street and arrested Mutekedza on the foot path outside Miriam’s home.

Tests showed the victim had stab wounds to her chest which collapsed both her lungs.

Mutekedza was quizzed by police but remained silent during interviews.

He denies murder but admits manslaughter by reason of a loss of self control and plead guilty to a firearms offence. He claims he thought he was still in a relationship with Miriam and alleges she and Chigombe attacked him.

The trial continues. Daily Mail (UK)