Zimbabwean 'Serial Killer' Says He Killed His Victims After Ransom Was Paid
A Zimbabwean national, Wellington Kachidza, who pleaded guilty to multiple murders in South Africa, revealed that after a ransom was paid for his victims, he killed them by crushing their heads with rocks.
Kachidza (27), appeared in the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria on Tuesday.
Last week, Kachidza pleaded guilty to multiple crimes including at least six murder charges, eight kidnappings, three rapes, robbery with aggravating circumstances and theft.
The court accepted his plea and convicted him on 34 counts in total.
The case was postponed to Wednesday for evidence in mitigation before sentencing.
Kachidza revealed in his guilty plea how he lied to his victims to lure and murder them.
He claimed to need help fetching a car in Eesterust because he did not have a driver’s licence.
On arrival at Eesterust, he would tell his would-be victim that the vehicle was on a plot in the distance and convinced them to accompany him.
In one such incident, on 8 October 2019, Kachidza approached Rendani Maphiri at a garage where he worked and duped him into fetching the car. He said:
After the deceased had knocked off from work, we took a taxi to Eesterust and when we reached there, I convinced the deceased that the motor vehicle was on the other side of the mountain and we had to take a shortcut over the mountain.
When we reached the top of the mountain near a reservoir I attacked the deceased and hit him with a rock on the head. The deceased fell to the ground and became dizzy.
I instructed him to take out his cellphone and to call his sister to tell her he was kidnapped and I demanded an R5 000 ransom.
About R2 000 was sent to the deceased’s cellphone and I later withdrew the money at an ATM.
Kachidza then took his victim’s cellphone by force and after the money was transferred, he killed him by bashing his head with a rock and left his body on the mountain.
Kachidza also lured Tebatso Mogoathlo using the same method and immediately attacked him on the mountain, striking him with a stone on the head. He said:
I then removed his shoelaces and tied his hands. I took his cellphone and told him to call his mother and inform her that he has been kidnapped.
I demanded R3 000 to be paid in the deceased’s bank account.
He said after R2 000 was deposited, he crushed the deceased’s head with a rock and left his body on the mountain.
On the charges of rape, Kachidza lured victims by making them believe he found them a job but would later instruct them to undress and then rape them.
Kachidza also pleaded guilty to contravening South Africa’s Immigration Act.
