Man kills neighbour to inherit wife

A 40-year-old Goromonzi, Zimbabwe man, Temba Lungu, is currently facing murder charges in a High Court in the district for the 2007 killing of his neighbour, Charles Kureti, and promptly inheriting the deceased's wife.

Lungu was arrested last year after having been on the run since he allegedly committed the offence.

He is suspected to be part of a three man gang that allegedly suffocated and threw Kureti into the flooded Pote River, leaving him to die with his hands tied together at the back with a piece of wire.

Five days after killing Kureti, Lungu moved in with the late man's wife, Neria Wadson.

The court heard that the alleged relationship continued until April 18, 2010, when they separated.

Prosecutor Henry Muringani said Lungu and his accomplices identified as Freza Wadson and Chrispen Lungu, killed Kureti on May 17, 2007, at Ngwandangwanda village.

Muringani told the court that on the day in question, Lungu had invited Kureti and his wife to his parents' home, claiming the family intended to resolve the couple's marital disputes.

The three are alleged to have then tied Kureti's hands with a piece of wire and force-marched him to Pote River where they shoved a T-shirt into his mouth, wrapped his head and face with his pair of trousers before throwing him into the water.

Kureti's body was discovered floating in the river but efforts to locate his relatives proved fruitless, prompting police to accord him a pauper's burial.

In her statement to police, Neria said Temba confided in her that the body recovered floating in Pote River was her husband's and as a result of fear, she gave in to his amorous advances.