By Staff Reporter

HIGH Court judge Justice Priscilla Munangati-Manongwa has jailed a Guruve man, Jordan Chikazhe 18 years for killing his girlfriend in cold blood last year.

Chikazhe  Bethel Marara by striking her with a hoe before he hid her body under some blankets.

After committing the heinous crime, he fled to his rural home with the keys from his girlfriend’s apartment.

Court heard the incident occurred in Ruwa.

Chikazhe had visited his girlfriend and he came across messages in her phone, resulting in the couple fighting.

He then took a hoe before he fatally struck Marara on the head and hid her body under a pile of blankets.

Court heard he also stole his girlfriend’s phone before locking her corpse inside the house.

During the trial, Chikazhe pleaded not guilty, arguing that he acted in self defense.

He further claimed that he disarmed Marara, and only struck her with the hoe because he lost control of his emotions after finding out she was cheating.

However, the judge ruled the murder was premeditated and not done in a fit of rage.

The judge said he should be imprisoned to protect the public.

“The accused clearly stated that he wanted to strike the deceased on the back. Even if the court was to accept this, it would still have had fatal consequences given the weapon used is a metal hoe,” she said.

The judge said his conduct of concealing the death, stealing her phone and going into hiding for three weeks is not consistent with that of a person who accidentally caused death.

“Thus, balancing the accused’s interests, the need for society to be protected from menacing behavior and the dictates of justice in terms of sentencing and punishment coupled with rehabilitation, the court finds the following sentence to be appropriate. The accused is sentenced to 18 years imprisonment.”