The trio of Blessing Mahutse, 20, Simon Chavhundutsa 19,
and Garikayi Ekaya, 36, were not asked to plead when they appeared before
Harare magistrate Barbra Mateko facing theft and malicious damage to property
charges.
Mahutse is a son to Dr Marisa’s sister while Chavhunduka
and Ekaya were employed as driver and a gardener respectively.
The court also heard that Mahutse and Chavhunduka live at
the mansion and had access to the complainant’s bedroom where the money was
kept. The trio was remanded in custody to February 8 for bail considerations.
Mahutse and Chavhunduka, it is alleged, entered into the
complainant’s bedroom, broke the wardrobe locks and stole a bag containing
US$50 000.
The gardener Ekaya is said to have taken two litres of
petrol from the store room which was meant for the lawn mower and used it to
burn down the house in connivance with the other two accused, the court heard.
It is the State’s case that to cover-up for the offence,
the trio lied to the complainant that the fire was caused by lightning.
In efforts to establish how his mansion had caught fire,
the doctor hired experts from the Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and
Distribution Company (ZETDC) who ruled out an electrical fault, leading to the
arrest of the trio.
According to the State, Mahutsi deliberately made no
efforts to rescue Dr Marisa’s children who were in the prayer room.
It is alleged he actually entered the room they were in
when the fire started and walked out of the room without rescuing the children
or taking some property outside.
The children had to jump out through the windows. H Metro
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