Blessing Nduku
Peter Dube, a once well-known car dealer in Gweru, who is accused of gunning down two people in 2021, is set for trial on 28 July in Bulawayo.
After years of trial, Dube’s mental state was an issue due to his initially claimed mental instability.
Dube was arrested in Ireland, where he had sought refuge under a false identity before being deported.
Allegedly, Dube drank water from a toilet basin and was talking to himself before his appearance in the High Court last year.
According to the State, Dube allegedly shot Shelton Chiduku, his wife’s suspected lover, and her friend Gamuchirai Mudungwe fatally.
He also allegedly injured his wife, Nyasha Nharingo, and her sister, Nyaradzo, during the attack.
Court records reveal that Dube was enraged after learning Nyasha had travelled to Masvingo with the three others without informing him.
He denied the charges in a statement made while being warned and cautioned through his then-lawyer, Tuso Maputsenyika of Mhaka Attorneys in Gweru.
Court papers read that following the shootings, Dube fled Zimbabwe for South Africa, then Eswatini, where he assumed a new identity, Xolile Mtsali.
He later travelled to Ireland and was arrested in Dublin last year for immigration violations.
He had claimed to be a Mozambican national, Armando Quenete Muchanga, to evade deportation.
Irish authorities deported him to Mozambique, where officials verified his true identity.
According to the National Prosecuting Authority of Zimbabwe(NPAZ), a second medical examination conducted by a doctor in Bulawayo contradicted an earlier report from a Gweru-based doctor, confirming Dube was mentally fit to stand trial.
The absence of a key witness also contributed to the case’s protracted nature.
