Maud Hunidzarira and Thanks Makore have been found not guilty and acquitted of Tapiwa Makore’s murder after the prosecution withdrew charges against them at the close of the State’s case.
The State failed to provide evidence against the two.
Thanks Makore was arrested in 2020 and accused of sending his twin brother Tapiwa Makore Snr and Tafadzwa Shamba to kill his nephew promising to pay them US$1 500.
He was released on a $10 000 bail by the High Court and was rearrested a few hours later on allegations of defeating or obstructing the course of justice by destroying evidence.
It was alleged back then that when Tapiwa Makore (Snr) was arrested in September 2020, Thanks allegedly drove to Murehwa Police Station where he asked for keys to Tapiwa Makore’s house.
Thanks reportedly went to the house and allegedly destroyed and burnt some evidence which linked Tapiwa Makore Snr to the commissioning of the crime.
Hunidzarira, known for brewing traditional opaque beer in the area and a neighbour of the Makores, was arrested in Budiriro after she was spotted washing a blood-stained carpet.
Tapiwa was allegedly murdered by his uncle in September 2020 in Nyamutumbu village, Murehwa.
According to one alleged confession, the boy was drugged, killed and mutilated so that they could sell his body parts to a witch doctor for US$1 500.
The family faced continued grief after enduring over six months without burying his body. Tapiwa Makore’s head could not be located until the time of his burial.