BULAWAYO – Gweru car dealer Peter Dube has been handed two life sentences over a double murder that shocked the Midlands city in April 2021.
Justice Munamato Mutevedzi of the Bulawayo High Court passed sentence on Wednesday, a week after Dube was convicted of the cold-blooded killings of Shelton Chiduku and Gamuchirai Madungwe.
Dube spent four years on the run following the shootings.
He was also convicted on two counts of attempted murder for shooting Nyasha and Nyaradzo Nharingo. Justice Mutevedzi jailed him 10 years on each count.
The National Prosecuting Authority is preparing fresh charges over the death of Nyaradzo, who later succumbed to her injuries. The judge expressed dismay that Dube was never charged with her murder.
The shootings occurred on April 22, 2021, in Gweru, when Dube confronted Shelton and Gamu in a car park and shot them at close range. He then went upstairs and shot Nyasha and Nyaradzo, leaving both critically injured.
Dube was accusing his second wife, Nyaradzo, of having an affair with his friend, Chiduku.
Rejecting Dube’s claim of mental illness, Justice Mutevedzi said the killings were carried out with “medieval ruthlessness,” describing his defence as “malingering, calculated, and unsupported by evidence.”
On Wednesday, he labelled Dube a “sadist,” “psychopath,” and “coward” who acted on his worst instincts without establishing whether his suspicions of infidelity were true.
The trial also detailed Dube’s four-year international flight from justice. After the shootings, he fled with help from his senior wife, Nomatter Chawana, first into South Africa, then Eswatini, before acquiring a false identity in Mozambique and eventually settling in Ireland. He was later deported to Zimbabwe.
Justice Mutevedzi said Dube’s ability to run his Zimbabwean businesses and maintain relationships from abroad showed he was calculating and mentally sound. He also questioned why Dube’s senior wife Chawana, who allegedly facilitated his escape, had never been investigated. – ZimLive
