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THE Kasama High Court has sentenced three men of Ntindi village in Nakonde to death for murdering a taxi driver and stealing his car worth K26,000.
The trio was also sentenced to life imprisonment each after being convicted of aggravated robbery.
Ndola High Court judge Charles Chanda, sitting in Kasama recently, convicted Richard Sikapizye, Darius Simbaya, and Mwaka Silengwa of murder and aggravated robbery on grounds that the prosecution had proved the case against them beyond reasonable doubt.
Sikapizye, Simbaya and Silengwa between August 28, 2014 and August 29, 2014, in Nakonde, murdered Shadrick Sinkala and stole his Toyota Corolla worth K26,000 by use of violence.
“On the totality of the evidence, I am satisfied that the prosecution has proved its case against the trio beyond reasonable doubt. I, therefore, find Sikapizye, Simbaya, and Silengwa guilty of murder and aggravated robbery and I convict them accordingly.
“The offence of murder carries a mandatory sentence. I hereby sentence you to death and direct that you shall be hanged by the neck until pronounced and certified dead by a certified medical practitioner. In the second count, I sentence you all to life imprisonment,” Mr Justice Chanda said.
He granted the trio leave to appeal to the Supreme Court within 14 days.
The trio was jointly charged with James Bwembya but the court acquitted him because there was no sufficient evidence linking him directly to the offence.
Evidence before court was that the trio hired Mr Sinkala in Nakonde town but they strangled him when they reached Yolo village and dumped his body in the bush.
The court heard that the trio tied Mr Sinkala’s hands to a small tree and that a wheel spanner was found about a metre away from where the body was found.
The court also heard that the trio was later apprehended by Tanzanian police in Tunduma, who had also recovered the vehicle from them.
Zambia Daily Mail
