A maid who allegedly murdered her employer, robbed her and fled to Mozambique has been finally arrested, 3 years after committing the heinous crime in Zimbabwe.
23-year-old Tabeth Mashizha was nabbed by the police after she attended a prayer session held by an apostolic sect in Zvimba.
Vigilant police officers apprehended Mashizha who appeared before Chinhoyi provincial magistrate Tamari Chibindi facing murder charges.
During the court hearing, the prosecution laid out the state’s case against Tabeth Mashizha. The state alleged that Mashizha committed the crime together with her husband Stanford Mazibiye.
Mashizha and Mazibiye, who also uses the name Farai Sithole, were both employed at the Masabera homestead as domestic workers.
In August 2018, Mashizha and her husband plotted to steal from their employer. When they were left at the homestead alone with Netty Mangachaya the two decided to take their opportunity. Husband and wife armed themselves with an axe and a hammer and attacked Mangachaya with the weapons. The prosecution alleges that the two struck Mangachaya repeatedly using the axe and the hammer until she died.
The officer who had investigated the original murder case, detective Sergeant Morris Mlilo testified that Mashizha should not be granted bail because she is a flight risk with well-established roots outside the country.
He also told the court that Mashizha is an experienced border jumper who was well versed with the illegal crossing points into Mozambique.
Magistrate Chibindi remanded Mashizha to 31 May. The magistrate also denied her bail and advised her to apply for bail at the High Court instead.