IT’S a chilling murder case which has gripped the attention of the nation – a woman being lured to her death by her ex-husband, his new wife taking part in the murder, and then committing suicide. There were four people involved in this tragedy – two men and two women. Both women, Olipa Chide and Jennifer Kalembo – are dead.
Kalembo was strangled to death at a house in Crowhll, Harare, while Chide took her own life at her grandparents’ home in Gutu, after having escaped from justice, as the police closed in. Both men — Brian Chanachimwe and Jonah Nekati— are now in remand custody. Nekati also tried to flee from justice, after learning that the police were closing in on him.
But, he was busted at his hideout in Mutare last week. Nekati told the police he did not take part in the crime and, instead, nailed the couple as the two people who killed Kalembo. Nekati’s arrest is a huge development in the investigations of this case in which Chanachimwe, 34, and his late wife, Olipa Chide, are accused of murdering Kalembo.
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Kalembo was Chanachimwe’s ex-wife and he is being accused of murdering her, with the help of Chide and Nekati, before dumping her body near the Hunyani River Bridge in Chitungwiza. Nekati had been on the run until he was arrested at his hideout in Mutare and appeared in court in Harare on Thursday. Chanachimwe allegedly lured Kalembo to her death, pretending that he wanted to give her some money for the school fees of their children and then working in tandem with Chide to kill her. The motive, according to the State, was to help Chanachimwe escape the mounting child support obligations tied to the three children Chanachimwe sired with Kalembo.
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