The High Court in Chinhoyi has sentenced a Mhondoro-Ngezi man to 25 years in prison for brutally killing his wife with a spade before coming up with a "boyfriend story" to cover up the murder.
In a chilling judgment, Justice Catherine Bachi Mzawazi ruled that Ellias Tasiyana murdered his partner "with actual intention" after repeatedly striking her on the head and body inside their bedroom at Village 14, Bumbe, in July last year.
The couple, who lived together with their three-year-old child at the accused's rural homestead, had reportedly spent the day "love-dubbing" and bathing together hours before the gruesome killing.
Tasiyana tried to convince the court that he found another man in bed with the woman at around 4AM and that the fatal blow accidentally landed on her while he fought the alleged intruder.
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But the court tore apart his defence, describing it as "a figment of the accused's imagination."
"Accordingly, the accused is found guilty of murder with actual intention," ruled Mzawazi.
The judge said there was "no intruder, no provocation, no attack at all and no deflected blow."
Evidence from the accused's own mother, Juliana Tasiyana, became central to the conviction. She told the court she rushed to the couple's room after hearing screams, only to find the door locked from inside.
"When the latch-key was eventually released, she was greeted by a pool of blood and the deceased's lifeless body," the judgment read.
The court said the mother never saw any man fleeing from the room and found her son naked, violent and behaving "like a possessed person."
Mzawazi said the boyfriend allegation only surfaced during trial and had never been mentioned to villagers, police or relatives after the murder.
"The accused's story in all its variants is not only improbable but outright false," the judge ruled.
The court heard that after the killing, Tasiyana swallowed poison and later escaped from hospital while under police guard before he was rearrested.
The judge said the murder exposed the brutality of domestic violence against women.
"This was a well calculated cold-blooded brutal murder. This is the height of domestic violence perpetrated on women victims, vulnerable persons," Mzawazi said.
The court also heard the woman had allegedly suffered repeated abuse during the relationship, with several police reports and hospitalisations recorded before her death.
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"The offence was committed in the presence of a three-year-old child who has not only been orphaned but inevitably traumatised," the judge said.
Tasiyana was sentenced to 25 years imprisonment.
