Man axed brother over missing plough part

A Guruve man has appeared before the High Court facing murder charges for allegedly axing his brother to death over a missing part of a plough. 

Graham Tunduhwe of Tunduhwe village under Chief Chipuriro of Guruve appeared before High Court judge, Justice Susan Mavhangira to answer the charge of murdering his brother, Edwell on the 26th of June 2005.

It is the state’s contention that on the day in question, Graham Tunduhwe discovered a missing part on his late fathers ox-drawn plough which had been removed by the deceased a day before and fixed on his own plough.

Upon discovering the missing part, the accused who had a long standing dispute with his now deceased brother over their late father’s estate, confronted the late brother who was watering his garden, over the missing part.

He allegedly armed himself with an axe and struck his brother 3 times on the head before his mother restrained him from further attacking his now deceased brother.

Edwell was ferried to Guruve Hospital where he died on admission.

A post-mortem conducted by Dr Masokovere on 1 March 2006 revealed that the death was caused by assault with a sharp object.

In his defence, the accused admits that he had an acrimonious relationship with his elder brother which used to degenerate into fist fights.

He accused the deceased of tampering with the plough by removing some components to prevent him from farming on time.

He said in his angry state, he had removed the axe from the handle and assaulted the deceased who fell to the ground, adding that through a mistake he struck him once on the head and he recalls the deceased crying.

Josephine Mudzimiri, a sister in-law to the accused and the deceased; Reason Tunduhwe, a brother to the accused; Advance Mariti, a nurse; Luckson Mugoro, an investigating officer and Dr Masokovere are the state witnesses in the murder trial. ZBC