Serial killer accused awaits fate

ZULULAND’S accused serial rapist Ntokozo Skhumbuzo Mthimkhulu will know his fate today (Thursday).
After hearing testimony from 40 witnesses, Judge Madam Radebe will hand down her verdict in the Mtunzini Magistrate’s Court.
The 32-year-old eSikhaweni man stands accused of raping and killing six women in and around Empangeni between May and August 2010.

All the bodies were dumped in the Hillview cane fields within a kilometre of the Empangeni police station.
Mthimkhulu appeared in the Mtunzini High Court this week.
He has pleaded not guilty to 17 charges which include six counts of murder, six counts of rape and five counts of robbery with aggravating circumstances.

Cellphone evidence using both the victims’ cellphones and Mthimkhulu’s, has allegedly linked him to the victims. DNA evidence has also strengthened the State’s case.
Investigating Officer from the Richards Bay Organised Crime Unit, Captain Bonginkosi Mncube was able to trace and track the victims’ stolen phones.
In some cases the phones had allegedly been sold by Mthimkhulu, but by using the cellphones International Mobile Equipment Identity number (IMEI), evidence linking Mthimkhulu to the victims was extracted.

Nozipho Nobuhle Mchunu, Nokuthula Jele, Millagrossa Zitha, Jabu Langa and Zanele Ndlovu’s decomposed bodies were found lying on farms in the Empangeni area. One woman is yet to be identified.
The victims
Mchunu, the first victim, was raped and murdered between May and June. Her body was found near Tedder Farm. Mchunu left for her first day at a new job and after not returning on the second day, her father became worried and went looking for her. She was missing for two months. Her body was discovered by a farm worker on 21 June.
The second body was found near Logans Farm.

According to forensic experts, the body was difficult to identify due to its state of decomposition.
Police suspect she was killed in early July and her body was discovered three weeks later.
Jele, the third victim, met a similar fate on 7 July. She was on her way to work in the Empangeni CBD when she met Mthimkhulu. She was murdered, raped and robbed of R200.
On 13 August, Zitha’s body was found by the K9 Dog Unit while they were conducting routine patrols on Hillview Farm. It is believed she met Mthimkhulu at a taxi rank on 11 July.

Langa’s body was found on 13 August behind a taxi rank near Empangeni CBD.
She had been robbed of her cellphone, raped and strangled to death.
Evidence showed her sister had spoken to her minutes before the attack. She had urged her to go to a petrol or police station and to not hang around the taxi rank alone.
However, her warning came to late.
Ndlovu was the final victim. She was on her way to work in Mtubatuba on 29 June when she met Mthimkhulu. She was taken to Tedder Farm where she, too, was raped and killed. Her cellphone was also stolen and her remains only found three months later.