FIVE men of Ndola who murdered a taxi driver and bundled his body in the boot, will hang by the neck until pronounced dead, the Ndola High Court has ruled.
Before Judge Charles Chanda, the five, who had booked the taxi driver three hours before he was found dead in the boot of his car, failed to defend themselves during trial.
“You booked the deceased’s taxi who turned out dead, three hours later. Murder carries a mandatory sentence, and I have not found any extenuating circumstances from your evidence. I therefore sentence you to death by hanging until you are pronounced dead by a registered medical practitioner,” Mr Justice Chanda said last Friday.
This is in a case where Jackson Kamanga,21, Aride Mapulanga, 21, Prisma Mutinta, 20, Gershom Chanda,19, and Mutakila Amukute,19, were charged with murder, contrary to section 200, cap 87 of the Laws of Zambia.
Particulars of the offence are that on December 10, 2014, in Ndola, the accused persons did murder Bestone Kapalali.
Evidence before court was that on the material night, around 22.00 hours, Kamanga, alias “Peter Stoga”, who is an ex-convict, was in the company of his friends when he booked Mr Kapalali’s taxi from Kawawayaya station to take them to Mushili Kansengu.
The taxi driver was found dead about three hours later.
And when the accused persons were apprehended, they failed to give police a satisfactory explanation on what happened but kept on arguing and accusing one another of what each one of them did or stole from Mr Kapalali.
Mr Justice Chanda noted that all the accused persons were positively identified and placed at the scene of the crime, hence there were no dangers of false implications.
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