HARARE – A Harare man accused of murdering 45-year-old journalist and news anchor Cordelia Masalethulini has been remanded in custody after making his initial court appearance on Wednesday. Quinton Fungai Tawengwa, 46, of Warwick Road in Greystone Park, was not asked to plead during a brief appearance before Harare magistrate Ruth Moyo charged with murder. He was remanded in custody to January 22 and advised to apply for bail at the High Court.
The National Prosecuting Authority said Tawengwa was in a romantic relationship with the late Masalethulini and the two spent January 4 together drinking alcohol at Helensville Shopping Centre in Borrowdale. Prosecutors told the court that at around 8PM on the same day, the pair resolved to travel to Domboshava, where they were allegedly staying together as a couple. The court heard that rainfall along the way forced them to temporarily take refuge at a location on Whisper Road in Borrowdale up to around 10PM.
While sheltering there, the state alleges that the two had a misunderstanding, with Maseluthilini refusing to go home in Tawengwa’s company. After the rain subsided, the two are alleged to have left the premises and proceeded on foot towards Harare–Domboshava road. Masalethulini was found dead shortly after 6AM on January 5 outside a house on the Borrowdale-Domboshava road.
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Tawengwa “was the last person to be with the now deceased,” the National Prosecuting Authority charges. Upon his arrest, the NPA alleges that Tawengwa’s clothes had fresh blood stains, which were subsequently taken to the CID Forensic Science Laboratory for analysis. The court was also told that “there are witnesses to testify who positively identified the accused person and the now deceased leaving house number 716 Whisper Road, Borrowdale, believed to be going home.” Maseluthilini’s body was later discovered along the Borrowdale–Domboshava Road and was conveyed to Parirenyatwa Hospital Mortuary for post-mortem examinations.
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