Innocent Maningi was found dead in the early hours of August 28 last year along Simon Mazorodze Road, Harare, in what police initially thought was an accident-related death.
A postmortem later revealed that Innocent could have been murdered.
Maningi died after he had just returned from Sweden to attend his father’s funeral in Hwange.
Sources in the police confirmed that a docket has been forwarded to the Harare Magistrates’ Courts for an inquest.
According to police documents seen by the Zimbabwe Independent, Maningi was last seen alive in the company of Mutangadura on August 27 last year.
Maningi , his mother and sisters bumped into Mutangadura, who was in the company of three friends at Jameson Hotel where the family was having refreshments.
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The deceased and the law officer allegedly exchanged greetings as they had known each other before the deceased went to Sweden.
Mutangadura and his three friends allegedly introduced themselves to Innocent’s family as employees in the President’s Office, the documents read.
After the refreshments, Maningi ’s mother Patience Chiripo and her daughters left him with Mutangadura.
Mutangadura is famous for prosecuting high profile cases like those of MDC and human rights activists accused of banditry.
According to documents, CR100-2/08/08 both at CID Homicide and Mbare traffic, Maningi was found dead along Simon Mazorodze road close to Lobels factory at 4am on August 28 2008.
Initially, it was suspected that his death could have been caused by a road accident but a postmortem by a Dr Nereyda Gonzalez of Harare Central hospital on October 3 2008 proved that his death was due to haemorrhage shock, avulsive cut on the abdomen and thorax. He advised police to investigate the case.
According to the postmortem, Maningi also had “multiple lacerations on all viscera (internal body organs), a six centimetre cut on the chin, fracture on the manilar and mandibula (facial fractures), fractures on the teeth, 10cm cut on the neck (right side), eight centimetre cut on the parietal (right side of the brain), cut on the left lower limbs and left enguinal region (testicular injuries) and bruises on the face and head.”
The deceased’s family’s account, according to the police documents, is that on midnight on August 27, Innocent called one of his sisters using Mutangadura’s number and told them that he was having drinks with him.
This is, however, contradicted in Mutangadura’s affidavit of December 12 2008 where he said he had drinks with Innocent until 7pm at the hotel and left for his home in Waterfalls where they continued drinking whisky while watching the 8pm news.
Mutangadura claimed that Maningi left his home at 9pm with half a bottle of whisky, adding that was the last time he saw him. He said he only learnt of his death the following day.
However, police say they found a full bottle of whisky at the scene of death.
Maningi ’s family, according to their sworn affidavits, were demanding to know why Mutangudura had introduced himself to them as an employee of the President’s Office when he was a law officer in the AG’s Office.
The family did not understand why Mutangadura — who claimed to be Maningi’s friend — did not attend his funeral and kept his distance from the family.
But in his affidavit, Mutangadura said he could not communicate with Maningi’s mother because she suspected that he had a role to play in the death of her son.
Police investigations sucked in Maningi ’s girlfriend based in Sweden, Josephine, who gave a statement through Interpol on September 24 2008 on messages and phone calls she received from Maningi through Mutangadura’s cellphone.
Elvis Dzingai, Maningi’s relative, in a sworn in statement to the police on August 29, claimed that a male adult he knew told him that Maningi had been killed the previous night by four adults who wanted US$6 000 from him which they claimed he owed them.
Wongai Zhangazha
