South African Traditional Healer Linked To Zimbabwean Serial Killer

A Zimbabwean man in custody for two murders in Bulawayo has reportedly said that he killed the one in order to harvest body parts for a traditional healer in South Africa, known locally as an inyanga.

Citing a senior police source close to the investigation, Zimbabwe's Chronicle reported that the inyanga had promised "instant riches" if the killer was able to supply the body of someone with the surname Ncube.

Rodney Tongai Jindu (26) is currently in custody after being arrested on suspicion of the killing of his friend Cyprian Kudzurunga (28). According to the Chronicle's source, Jindu killed Kudzurunga on January 29 after confessing to having killed Mboneli Joko Ncube (30), a mutual friend of theirs.

The murder of Ncube is believed to have been carried out at a request of the South African inyanga, who sought body parts from someone with the surname Ncube. Allegedly, Jindu was approached by the inyanga last month through a colleague with whom he had studied in South Africa. While in custody, Jindu allegedly expressed dismay that he would not get the 20 thousand dollars and the Toyota Quantum vehicle that he had been promised.

According to the Chronicle's police source, Jindu lured Ncube to a vacant lot in a suburb of Bulawayo under the pretense of a business meeting on January 12. Jindu shot Ncube in the back and killed him with a second shot while he was on the ground. Jindu then contacted the inyanga, who came to the scene with some other unidentified men and they took away the body.

The following morning, the inyanga and the men returned Ncube's remains to Jindu, but with a hand, the head, heart and both legs missing. Jindu cut the body up into four pieces and burnt them before burying them in shallow graves. DNA testing is currently under way to confirm that the identity of the dismembered body. - Town