The man convicted of killing seven-year-old Tapiwa Makore three years ago, will today be sentenced by the High Court after both the prosecution and defence submitted their arguments in aggravation and mitigation.

Tafadzwa Shamba was last month convicted of murder, while the boy’s uncle, Tapiwa Makore Senior, was found guilty of being an accomplice after he provided his house for the
commissioning of the crime. He too faces his sentence today.

The body of Tapiwa was found disfigured and cut into pieces, sparking far-reaching
outrage throughout the nation. Shamba confessed to the murder and this statement
was confirmed by a magistrate and accepted by the High Court.

He told the court that they killed the boy with the intention of selling his body parts to
a witchdoctor for US$1 500.

High Court Judge Justice Munamato Mutevedzi, sitting with assessors Mr
Chakuvinga and Ms Chitsiga, found Shamba guilty of murdering the boy while
Makore Snr was convicted of being an accomplice to the murder although the court
found insufficient evidence to convict him of the murder itself.

In the case of Shamba, he was convicted on the strength of the confession he made
with this being supported by other evidence. He did not only confess to the murder,
but made indications which led to the recovery of the boy’s lower limbs dumped in a
latrine.

Shamba also led police to the house where the boy had been detained. The police
recovered a container with illicit brew which Shamba had used to drug the boy and
other paraphernalia used during and after the murder.

In convicting Makore Snr as an accomplice, the court relied on circumstantial
evidence, after discounting his direct involvement in the murder for want of enough
evidence but the judge made it clear he was embroiled in the murder in more than
one way.

It is a requirement of the law that there be a causal link between the accomplice’s
conduct and the death, said Justice Mutevedzi, finding that Makore provided his
house to facilitate the commission of the crime hence contributed to the murder of the
boy.

In the final analysis, the court was satisfied that Shamba and Makore Snr, in one way
or another, left their bold and luminous foot prints across the crime scene.

-State Media