HARARE – A jilted lover shot his girlfriend dead on Friday, a day after throwing thousands of United States dollars through a window of a busy shopping mall in Harare.
A police statement said Tafadzwa Russel Murengwa, a street dealer who lives in Glen Lorne, was responsible for the “callous” murder of 28-year-old Samantha Ruvimbo Dzapata, an NGO worker who had recently called time on their four-year relationship.
A voice note has emerged, allegedly of Murengwa admitting to a relative that he killed Dzapata for leaving him for another man.
National police spokesman Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi said Murengwa, known to friends as ‘Boss Pangolin’, had gone on the run.
“The ZRP is appealing for information which may lead to his arrest in connection with the callous shooting and murder of his ex-lover Samatha Dzapata, of Waterfalls, along Simon Mazorodze Road near Bathroom Boutique,” Nyathi said.
The incident allegedly happened at 9AM. Dzapata’s sister witnessed the shooting, according to Murengwa’s voice note.
Murengwa’s crazy 24-hours began with him causing a near stampede at Ximex Mall when he threw thousands of United States dollars from a window to a crowd down below on Thursday.
He said in the 14-minute voice note that he was stressed but “felt better” after his money stunt, and watching other dealers at the mall cheering him on.
His mood turned dark, however, on Friday when a raucous confrontation with Dzapata ended in her death. Murengwa said he struggled to deal with rejection by Samantha, whom he used shower with expensive gifts while she indulged a married man in Beitbridge.
Samantha worked in Beitbridge for the NGO, CeSHHAR.
“We had issues with Samantha since January. I spoke to her mum and we started dating again after a few months,” he narrated.
“The problems started again before we went to Victoria Falls for a holiday when she hung up on a video call from her lover. I confronted her but we went ahead with the trip after I forgave her.
“We had another nasty fight after I realised she was still chatting with that guy and I hacked her phone. I confronted this man until Samantha decided to dump me for the guy.
“Samantha dragged me to court and I was served with a peace order but I kept in touch with her and even bought her a car in Beitbridge just to show how much I loved her, while she was still seeing that man.
“They both even told me to back off and I realised then that I had no chance. Today, I took Samantha’s belongings to her workplace. I then went to Waterfalls where she was staying with her sister along Simon Mazorodze Road.
“She started acting all funny, throwing stones around. I tried to reason with her until I became emotional and shot her while she was holding onto her sister.”
Murengwa said he had decided to skip the country into Mozambique.
“I’m sorry to all the Murengwa family for what I did. Now I’m in Bindura to meet someone. I’ll be crossing the border and start a new life,” he said.
ZimLive has seen a screenshot of a message Samantha sent to one of Murengwa’s friends, disclosing a history of emotional and physical abuse.
The message contains a photo Samantha took showing a fresh wound just above her right eye and a swollen lip.
She told the person: “This is what your friend did to me when I told him that I am not able to settle with him because of his behaviours. He abused me emotionally, he was controlling and manipulative.
“When I prayed I asked God for signs before I make any plans. My spirit told me that he won’t change, and the marriage would be hell. I decided to quit. So he attacked me in the face and head with the jack.”
