{UAH} Lusaka business woman to be hanged for murdering her husband's lover
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Lusaka business woman to be hanged for murdering her husband's lover
JASMINE Beauty Parlour proprietor Beatrice Hangwende (striped dress) heading to a waiting Mitsubishi Fuso bus yesterday shortly after the Lusaka High Court sentenced her to death for murder. Behind her is Mary Moyo who was acquitted
THE Lusaka High Court has sentenced a Lusaka business woman Beatrice Hangwende, her elder brother John and two others to death for murdering her husband's lover Monica Chabwera Phiri in cold blood six years ago.
Supreme Court Judge Gregory Phiri sitting as High Court Judge sentenced Beatrice the owner of Jasmine Beauty Palour and her elder brother to death on one count of murder and another life imprisonment in count two for attempted murder.
Immediately the verdict was pronounced, Beatrice wept uncontrollably until she was bundled into the prison van.
Beatrice's accomplices Joseph Banda and Charles Mwanza have also been slapped with similar sentences while her nephew Jungwe Majula was sentenced to 15 years on both counts and another relative, Mary Moyo was acquitted.
The six were facing two counts, one of murder contrary to section 200 of the Penal Code and attempted murder of Benny Banda, Monica's driver on April 22, 2007.
Delivering a six-hour judgment, Judge Phiri said his hands were tied and could not exercise leniency or extenuating circumstances because of the manner in which the victim was murdered and how they later planned to murder Benny.
"I find the four of you, Beatrice, John, Banda, and Mwanza, guilty of murdering the victim and robbing the victims of their properties which included cellular phones and damaging of the vehicle driven by Monica and I accordingly sentence you to death as this is the appropriate sentence for this offence," said Mr Justice Phiri.
Ms Moyo was acquitted on grounds that the prosecutors failed to prove the charges against her while Majula was not involved in the whole action up to the murder of the victim.
Mr Justice Phiri advised the police to continue pursuing the other two accomplices, Febby and Gregory who are still on the run and are believed to be part of the gang that murdered Monica on the material day.
The Judge said there was overwhelming evidence in the matter especially from the police officers tasked to investigate the matter saying in fact, they deserved to be promoted because they executed their duties diligently.
He said he had never experienced such diligence executed by investigation officers in the matter who made his work easier after tracing all the mobile phone calls by the convicts and mapping their movements.
He said he would write to the Inspector General of police Stella Libongani to have the four police officers, Alfred Foloko, Henry Mulenga, Richard Banda and a Ms Besa to be elevated for their efforts during investigations," he said.
Mr Justice Phiri observed that from the evidence adduced by the prosecution witnesses, Beatrice was the initiator of the murder as she had been planning the death of Monica way back before she engaged her relatives to help her by first abducting her from her lover's house and later drove her to Chisamba area where her body was dumped.
"The cell-sites used showed all the movements of the gang from Rhodes Park where they abducted Monica and her driver Benny and continued to exchange phone calls until past midday after she was murdered," he said.
He said from the caller identification analysed from the cell-site towers, there was no indication that Beatrice was making those continued calls from outside the country as she alleged in her defence.
Mr Justice Phiri said Beatrice only stopped phone calls to his accomplices after midnight as shown by the detailed electronic systems which indicated that the convict was suing the cell-site in Ibex Hills where she used to stay and was apprehended from.
Mr Justice Phiri rejected the alibi by Beatrice of having travelled to South Africa at the time of Monica's murder on account that she failed to provide the air ticket used, flight number, flight used, electronic evidence and agent used to purchase her air ticket.
"Bringing the stamped passport alone is not enough to convince the prosecution that you were in South Africa and even after analysing the stamps in the passport, it was established that the date stamps from both countries were forged," he said.
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