A Zimbabwean national has been convicted of murdering his own brother following a bitter and escalating feud over their family business -- with a judge revealing the pair had become locked in a chilling battle over who would kill the other first.

Pardon Masukweza was found guilty by the High Court in Lilongwe of the murder of his brother, Vitalis Masukweza, after the once-close siblings fell out spectacularly over how their Mercedes-Benz spare parts business was being run.

Tensions between the brothers reportedly boiled over after Vitalis broke away to launch a rival business of his own -- a betrayal that appears to have set the tragic chain of events in motion.

Delivering his verdict, Justice Bruno Kalemba said the evidence painted a disturbing picture of mutual hatred between the two men, describing it chillingly as a case of who would strike first.

The court further heard how Masukweza had meticulously plotted a false alibi in a calculated bid to cover his tracks.

State advocate Dziko Malunda told the trial that the accused had claimed to have already crossed the border into South Africa the day before the killing -- but his carefully constructed cover story unravelled after traffic police stopped him on the very day his brother was murdered, blowing his alibi apart.

Vitalis Masukweza was killed on 16 November 2022 in Likasi Forest, along the notorious Lilongwe-Mchinji Road, in a murder that has now ended with his own brother behind bars.