Fresh inquest into gold miner’s death

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SURREY (UK) — The brother of a United Kingdom man found dead in Bulawayo is flying to the country for a fresh inquest into his death.

SURREY (UK) — The brother of a United Kingdom man found dead in Bulawayo is flying to the country for a fresh inquest into his death.

SuicideHangingGeneric_295Robert Wood (54) a gold mine manager in Matobo, was discovered hanged in Bulawayo in March 2012.

A inquest in Woking in November 2013 recorded an open verdict and the coroner said there was not enough evidence to determine how he died. On Monday a new inquest will begin in Bulawayo and Wood’s brother Ian said he had been asked to attend. Previously, a pathologist in Zimbabwe concluded Wood, of Windlesham, had taken his own life.

But Ian, from Dover, Kent, said his brother, who had lived in Africa for much of his life, had no reason to hang himself.

He said: “We need to get some answers, as there are lots of unanswered questions. Although a lot of the evidence we have got is circumstantial evidence, the coroner in Surrey said it is quite damning and it should be investigated. We are hoping that whatever evidence we have got and collected they actually will open up another inquiry.”

Ian claimed his brother’s will was forged in an attempt to gain control of his assets. Surrey police had not conducted any formal investigation into the death and said Zimbabwean authorities had carried out inquiries before referring the case to the Surrey Coroner’s Office.

After the first inquest, Wood’s family offered a $25 000 reward for information about his death. Wood, who owned Goodenough Gold Mine, was reportedly found hanged in a flat he lived together in with his mistress, Gugulethu Henrietta Dube. But his family suspect foul play as they allege his Zimbabwean girlfriend was complicit in his death, charges Dube vehemently denies.

The family told a coroner in the UK that the Zimbabwean authorities who investigated Wood’s death had identified four murder suspects.

— Online