A 45-year old Mangwe man who last September allegedly murdered his parents he accused of bewitching him, yesterday appeared before a Plumtree magistrate facing two counts of murder.
Lisani Marcellus Nleya who allegedly murdered his father Mr
Nicholas Nleya (83) and his mother Mrs Margaret Nleya (78) was not asked to
plead when he appeared before Ms Vivian Ndlovu.
He was remanded in custody to 17 February and advised to
apply for bail at the High Court.
Prosecuting Mr Willbrought Muleya said Nleya allegedly
committed the murder on the night of 1 September.
“The accused is the last son of the deceased couple and he
believed that the two were bewitching him since childhood. The accused
confronted the two deceased and other family members on several occasions
seeking audience without success,” he said.
Mr Muleya said Nleya planned the murder while in South
Africa where he is based.
“On 1 September the accused person entered the country and
registered an Econet line using his national identity card particulars while in
Bulawayo. The accused person later proceeded to the deceased’s homestead during
the night armed with a machete, kitchen knife and some home-made petrol bombs,”
he said
Mr Muleya said Nleya broke the couple’s bedroom window to
gain entry and therefter allegedly murdered the two as his mother pleaded with
him to spare their lives.
After the muder, Nleya allegedly torched the room using the
homemade petrol bombs resulting in the deceased’s bodies being burnt beyond
recognistion.
Remnants of the weapons used in the murder were found at
the house he was lodging in Emakhandeni suburb in Bulawayo.
Part of the recovered weapons include a kitchen knife
wrapped in a parcel wrapper, one machete, one home-made petrol bomb, one
balaclava and the accused’s national identity document.
He used to stay at the Emakhandeni house whenever he was in
the country. Nleya who had sneaked into the country, was arrested on Sunday in
Bulawayo after a tip-off from members of the public.
On Tuesday he was taken to the homestead for indications. Shackled
in leg irons and handcuffs, Nleya told detectives that his parents deserved to
die because they were bewitching him.
He said he acted alone in the ruthless double-murder that
shocked the country. Nleya is said to have cut ties with his family and had not
communicated with them in 15 years.
He lived in South Africa but would come to Zimbabwe to
spend time in Bulawayo with friends but never set foot at the family homestead
nor bothered to check on his relatives until the night of the murder. Chronicle
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