Masendeke brother begs for mercy

News
ONE OF THE Masendeke brothers, who were arrested for the brutal murder of a resident following a misunderstanding during a beer drink at Mbizo 4 business centre in March 2013, begged Kwekwe resident magistrate Taurai Manwere to have mercy on him and grant him bail after close to a year in remand prison.

ONE OF THE Masendeke brothers, who were arrested for the brutal murder of a resident following a misunderstanding during a beer drink at Mbizo 4 business centre in March 2013, begged Kwekwe resident magistrate Taurai Manwere to have mercy on him and grant him bail after close to a year in remand prison.

STAFF REPORTER

Elson Masendeke, who together with his brothers Ernest, Edward and Lazarus Mukarati, was arrested in March last year for allegedly brutally assaulting Jonathan Mpofu resulting in his death.

He made the plea when he appeared for a routine remand before Manwere.

“I beg this court to have mercy on me and admit me to bail because I have been in remand prison for an entire year and my trial date has not been set. Could I be allowed to come and report to court from home,” begged Elson.

Manwere advised Elson to apply for bail at the High Court saying he had no powers to grant him bail before instructing the State led by Tinashe Mhonde to make a follow-up on his trial date.

“I advise you to apply for bail at the High Court because this court has no jurisdiction to grant bail in a murder case. Please also chase up with his trial date because he has been in remand for over a year now,” Manwere said to the State.

His brother Ernest, who was nabbed by police after six months on the run, was also remanded to May 6 when he appeared separately before Manwere.

The State alleges that Elson and his brothers, who are now all in custody, assaulted Mpofu with a machete and sticks following a misunderstanding and left him for dead.

“The five assaulted Mpofu with sticks, fists and a machete several times until he became unconscious. He sustained deep cuts in his forehead and several bruises all over the body and bled through the nose and mouth,” a court statement reads.

According to an eyewitness account, Mpofu’s crime was allegedly stepping on Edward’s foot while he was at a pool table at a night spot in Mbizo 4.

Their older brother Edgar was hanged in 2003 together with Stephen Chidhumo and Elias Chauke following an unprecedented jailbreak at Chikurubi Maximum Prison in 1997.

Edgar had been arrested for a cross-border crime spree of rape, armed robbery, kidnapping and murder.