Suspects in Zimbabwean Adventist school murder in custody

January 25, 2017:    Four male suspects in the January 17 murder of a security guard at Pelandaba Seventh-day Adventist Primary School are in the custody of police.

Zimbabwe’s Chronicle newspaper reported that the men appeared in court on January 25 after allegedly murdering the guard, Burton Sikalonga, at the denominational school in the Pelandaba suburb of Bulawayo, Zimbabwe’s second-largest city.

The armed men are accused of beating Sikalonga’s head and the rest of his body with an iron bar and then stabbing him with a hunter’s knife.

A colleague of the victim, Vusumuzi Tshuma, also sustained injuries from the confrontation.

The men allegedly attacked the guards and stole nearly $300 in cash from the Adventist school and the nearby church. In addition, they are accused of stealing three laptops and five T-shirts.

Police have successfully recovered all three stolen laptops, as well as $40 cash and two T-shirts. They also confiscated a pistol from the suspects.

Magistrate Tinashe Tashaya did not ask the suspects to register a plea in court on January 25, and decided to remand the four in custody until February 8.