‘Wife killer’ arrested after a week on the run

By James Muonwa l Mashonaland West Correspondent

POLICE detectives have arrested a Chinhoyi man, who was on the run after butchering his wife whom he caught red-handed in a compromising position with her suspected lover on the matrimonial bed.

Suspected killer, Bwanali Bwanado (50) was nabbed in dramatic fashion at his Musengi farm where he had retreated to following the cold-blooded murder, a week ago, of his wife Chioneso Ephraim aged 41.

Sources said the suspect, who was initially rumoured to have skipped to Zambia, had adopted a routine of hiding in the bush during the day and return home to sleep at night, before leaving at dawn.

Following his arrest on Tuesday night, Criminal Investigations Department (CID) Chinhoyi operatives on Wednesday escorted Bwanado to the crime scene where he indicated how he killed his “adulterous” wife.

A sea of onlookers from the populous Gadzema suburb thronged the area to witness Bwanado show detectives how he callously ended Ephraim’s life in full glare of her employee after letting go the male lover he had found in the house.

The couple had reportedly been married for close to 15 years, but was experiencing marital problems with the husband accusing his wife, a vegetable vendor, of having extramarital affairs.

A police detective, who spoke to NewZimbabwe.com on condition of anonymity, said fugitive Bwanado had earlier threatened to harm villagers in the Musengi area who dared inform police of his whereabouts, and had also planned to resist arrest.

“We got information that the suspect was prepared to kill detectives in his bid to resist arrest. Therefore, we armed ourselves with pistols, had to be tactful and waylaid him in the dead of the night before executing our operation,” said the detective.

Bwanado argues he was “hurt and severely provoked by his wife” as he toiled on the farm growing vegetables that he would ferry to Chinhoyi and give her for sale at the Gadzema farmers’ wholesale market, but chose to repay him with infidelity, detectives told NewZimbabwe.com.

The murder, which occured on Tuesday, November 7 night at house number 290 Gadzema, Chinhoyi, shocked the entire community and is still talk of the town.

According to Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) national spokesperson, Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi, suspect stabbed his wife to death with an okapi knife after finding her sitting on their matrimonial bed with her (unidentified) lover.

Bwanado is expected to appear at Chinhoyi Court Complex this Thursday facing a murder charge.