Tapiwa Makore killers sentenced to death over gruesome ritual murder

The High Court on Wednesday sentenced Tafadzwa Shamba and Tapiwa Makore (senior) to death for gruesomely murdering seven-old Tapiwa Makore (junior) in 2020 in a case which stirred up deep emotions in the country.

The duo murdered the boy in Murewa to harvest body parts for suspected ritual purposes. He was buried without a head.

Tapiwa Makore (senior) is the elder brother of the boy’s father, and the young victim was in fact named after him.

Sitting at the High Court in Harare, Justice Munamato Mutevedzi ruled that how Tapiwa was killed only requires the court to apply a stiff penalty adding that they also deserved death by hanging.

“The demon which drove Tafadzwa Shamba and Tapiwa Makore to commit this murder is relentless and could not be stopped. It can only be neutralised by death.

“Our hands are therefore bound and accordingly it is directed that accused persons shall be returned to custody and that the sentence of death be executed upon each of them according to law,” he ruled.