The Sunday News
Patrick Chitumba, Midlands Bureau
FUGITIVE Gweru businessman Peter Dube, who was on the run after killing two people and the attempted murder of two others, appeared in court yesterday and was remanded in custody to April 17.
Dube had been on the run for nearly three years after allegedly gunning down his wife’s alleged boyfriend and her best friend and shooting and injuring his wife and her sister in a suspected love triangle.
He appeared before Gweru provincial magistrate Ms Beauty Dube who remanded him in custody pending the completion of investigations.
Security was tight at the Gweru Magistrates’ Court with armed police and Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Service (ZPCS) officers deployed around the building during Dube’s appearance.
In his warned and cautioned statement, Dube, who was represented by Mrs Tuso Maputsenyika of Mhaka Attorneys, denied all the charges.
The magistrate advised Dube to apply to the High Court for bail.
“The accused is remanded in custody until April 17. He is advised to approach the High Court for bail since this court has no jurisdiction to hear his bail application,” she ruled.
Dube, a car dealer, allegedly shot dead his wife’s suspected lover Shelton Chiduku of Kwekwe and his wife’s best friend Gamuchirai Mudungwe.
He then allegedly turned the gun on his wife Nyasha and her sister Nyaradzo, but the two survived the shooting.
Prosecutor Ms Hellen Khoza said on April 22, 2021, at around 11AM, Chiduku, Mudungwe, Nyasha and Nyaradzo allegedly went to Masvingo to collect the latter’s passport.
Dube heard that the four had gone to Masvingo without his knowledge. This did not go down well with him since he had been suspecting infidelity between Nyasha and Chiduku.
Police details with the fugitive murder, Peter Dube
“At around 8PM on the same day, the accused allegedly armed himself with a Zastara pistol and proceeded to number 11, Bensam Flats, Main Street, Gweru where Nyasha resided,” said Ms Khoza.
Since Dube suspected Nyasha of having an affair with Chiduku, an altercation ensued which prompted him to go downstairs. He shot Chiduku, who was in the driver’s seat of a Toyota Hiace, once on the front left shoulder and he died instantly.
The court heard that Mudungwe, who was downstairs with Chiduku, tried to run up the stairs, but Dube shot her once on the left cheek and she died on the spot.
After allegedly killing Chiduku and Mudungwe, Dube went upstairs where Nyasha and Nyaradzo were.
The court heard that Dube allegedly shot Nyasha once on the right cheek and the bullet protruded to the left side of her neck, removed her right molar tooth and landed on the upper side of her shoulder.
“After shooting Nyasha, the accused allegedly turned on Nyaradzo, shooting her once above the left ear, and the bullet protruded through and raptured her right eye,” said Ms Khoza.
Nyasha and Nyaradzo were lucky to survive and were taken to Gweru Provincial Hospital where surgeons successfully operated on them.
After the incident, Dube allegedly fled to South Africa, before going to Eswatini where he fraudulently acquired an identity document and passport.
Dube then flew to Ireland where he was arrested in Dublin last year for violating that country’s immigration laws.
Dube was allegedly using a fake identity and when he was arrested in Dublin, he refused to be deported to Zimbabwe claiming that he was a Mozambican citizen named Armando Quenete Muchanga.
He was then deported to Mozambique and authorities there established that he was Zimbabwean and deported him.
