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Mashudu Netsianda, Senior Court Reporter
A MENTALLY-ILL Bulawayo man allegedly killed a 75-year-old traditional healer he had consulted and buried the body in a shallow grave, a High Court judge has heard.

Bulawayo High Court judge Justice Martin Makonese heard this when Daniel Sinkala, 28, of Pumula North, appeared before him facing a charge of murder in connection with the death of William Longwe four years ago.

Sinkala claimed the elderly man had over the years sodomised him. He alleged that each time the late Longwe had anal sex with him, he would pay him $50.

He said at one time, Longwe had anal sex with him twice and told him that he did not have money to pay him. Sinkala said it was then that he decided to kill him and sell his property so that he would get his $50.

Justice Makonese ruled that Sinkala could not be held legally responsible for killing the traditional healer, saying he was mentally ill at the time of committing the crime. The judge retained a special verdict of not guilty to the charge because of insanity in terms of the Mental Health Act.

“Sinkala has been examined by psychiatrists whose findings are that he shouldn’t be held liable for his conduct. In light of the evidence before this court, we’re satisfied that he suffered from a mental illness when he committed the crime and the court therefore retains a special verdict of not guilty in terms of section 29 (2) of the Mental Health Act. In the result, it’s ordered that he return to prison pending transfer to a mental institution for further examination,” ruled Justice Makonese.

Prosecuting, Whisper Mabhaudhi said on July 13, 2012, Sinkala went to Longwe’s house in Pumula North where the old man was staying alone.

The court heard that at about 6PM, Sinkala and Longwe had a misunderstanding over a $50 debt. While seated in the kitchen, Sinkala got up and went to the toilet where he took a pick head, came back and allegedly struck Longwe twice on the head, killing him instantly.

To cover up the offence, Sinkala wrapped the deceased’s body with a plastic bag and bed linen before he dug a shallow grave about a metre deep in Longwe’s garden and buried him.

Sinkala went away and returned after two days to steal a double bed set, wardrobe, three heavy-duty sewing machines, wooden kitchen cupboard, a fridge, two by two-in-one blankets, a comforter, Phillips DVD, a pillow case and a grey speaker and loaded the property into a Mazda pick-up truck which he had hired.

An alert neighbour on seeing that Longwe”s property was being taken away, took down the registration number of the truck. Longwe’s church mates, on noticing that he had missed church on July 15, became suspicious and made a missing person report at Pumula Police Station. Another neighbour had noticed a pit in Longwe’s yard the previous day, which had been filled up the following day. Police armed with this information dug up the pit leading to the discovery of Longwe’s body. According to the post-mortem results, the cause of death was depressed skull fracture, massive subarachnoid haemorrhage, blunt force trauma and homicide. Follow-ups on the vehicle that had carried the property led to its owner and he led detectives to Sinkala’s house where he was arrested on July 19.