THREE armed robbers who targeted white commercial farmers in Mashonaland Central province, killing four of them, were on Wednesday sentenced to four death sentences each by High Court judge Justice Tawanda Chitapi.

BY CHARLES LAITON

Kiribon Jirimadenga, Richard John and Doesmatter Vhore were sent to the gallows after the court found them guilty of murder with actual intent.

Justice Chitapi said the manner in which the trio killed the commercial farmers indicated a well-orchestrated plan and determination on the part of the convicts, and as such, no other sentence would be proper besides death penalties.

Prosecutor Clemence Chimbari revealed that sometime in September 2011, Jirimadenga, John and Vhore hatched a plan to rob and murder white commercial farmers in Guruve and Centenary areas.

Pursuant to their plans, on September 2, 2011, they proceeded to Simapiri Farm in Centenary, where they used a ladder to scale a security fence and gained entry into the farm’s main house, robbed and killed one Zietsman by striking him with an angle iron bar.

They ransacked his house, struck Zietsman’s wife Phillipa unconscious, and proceeded to steal a .32 Colt revolver, shoes, clothes, cellphones and blankets before disappearing into the night.

A month later, the three again pounced at Mozoona Farm in Guruve where they used a metal hoe handle to bludgeon the farmer to death.

This was after they had tied his wife, Barbra Ervine’s hands with a wire, ransacked the house and stole various property, including $5 030 cash.

Three years later, Jirimadenga, John and Vhore stormed Muzhanje Farm on May 10, 2014 and attacked farm owner Malcom Francis and his daughter, May.

The trio waylaid Francis and struck him twice with an angle iron bar on the head before attacking his daughter in the same manner.

They both later died.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa has, however, indicated nobody will be hanged under his watch.

Zimbabwe has not had an execution for over a decade now, with Mnangagwa then Justice minister reportedly disagreeing with former President Robert Mugabe on capital punishment.

Mnangagwa survived the hangman’s noose during the liberation struggle and is a strong campaigner against the death penalty.