Herdboy acquitted of employer’s brutal axe murder
The murder trial of a herdboy accused in the brutal axing of his 62-year-old former employer collapsed at the Bulawayo High Court last week after a judge ruled that “notoriously unreliable” earwitness voice identification failed to prove the man was the killer.
Mkhokheli Ndlovu, whose age was not stated, was acquitted of murder by Justice Donald Ndirowei following a full trial at the Bulawayo High Court. Ndlovu had been accused of striking his former employer, Teboko Sebata, repeatedly on the head with a metal-handled axe at her homestead in Chabeda Village, Zezani, on November 13, 2022.
Sebata, who had just returned from a cattle sale, sustained fatal head injuries and a severed carotid artery. Her body was discovered the following day, and a blood-stained metal axe was found hidden inside a ventilator hole of a Blair toilet on the premises.
The prosecution, led by Elaine Kanengoni and Mufaro Ndirarire, argued that Ndlovu killed Sebata, stole her small Nokia cellphone, and fled the area.
Ndlovu was only arrested 18 months later, in May 2024, for possession of cannabis in Zezani, at which point police realised he was wanted for the murder.
The National Prosecuting Authority’s case relied heavily on circumstantial evidence and the testimonies of the deceased’s son, Lihlonolo Sebata, and a relative, Lafhisani Muleya. Both witnesses testified that when they dialed the victim’s missing phone after the murder, a male answered.
Lihlonolo claimed he recognised the voice as Ndlovu’s, despite admitting under cross-examination by defence lawyers that he had only ever met Ndlovu twice for a total of six days.
Muleya similarly claimed the caller identified himself as “Mukokeli” before hanging up, though he admitted under questioning that his initial police statement made no mention of the call.
Investigating officer Detective Hilton Sibanda conceded in court that two years elapsed before the investigation picked up, no forensic evidence linked Ndlovu to the murder weapon, and the stolen cellphone was never recovered or linked to Ndlovu via IMEI tracking.
In his defence, Ndlovu maintained he was at his rural home in Plumtree at the time of the killing. He acknowledged that Sebata owed him unpaid wages when he left her employment prior to the murder but denied any involvement in her death or ever answering her phone.
Justice Ndirowei held that voice identification by earwitnesses is inherently fallible, particularly where the witness has had limited interaction with the accused.
“In criminal law, the alleged identification of an accused by voice alone is generally highly fallible and notoriously unreliable,” Justice Ndirowei stated, noting that standing alone without forensic corroboration or recovered property, earwitness evidence cannot secure a conviction.
The judge pointed out that robbers could have targeted Sebata, knowing she had cash from the cattle sale and later impersonated Ndlovu on the phone to divert suspicion.
“The question is not whether the accused person might have committed the offence, but whether the evidence excludes every reasonable inference consistent with his innocence,” the judge ruled, finding Ndlovu not guilty and ordering his release. *_-ZimLive_*
