A 26-year-old ex-Zimbabwean police officer from Beit Bridge, who ganged up with a friend and shot dead a South African who was on a visit to that country, was sentenced to death on Monday.

Leo Matibe pleaded not guilty to the murder of Martinus Jacobus Oosthuyse (69), but was convicted of murder with constructive intent by a local senior High Court judge, Justice Maphios Cheda, sitting with Mr Elliot Nyoni and Mr Phanuel Damba as assessors.

The court found no extenuating circumstances after finding that this was murder during the course of a robbery.

The court found that Matibe knew that his accomplice, Collin Tsikidze, who is now at large, was armed and that Matibe had told Tsokidze to "finish him off so that we go".

"In your own evidence, you stated that you knew and appreciated what you were doing. You are a trained police officer. This was a cold-blooded, beastly murder, committed without any conscience and you went on to dump the body.

"As a policeman, you had ample time to report the murder and you went to Harare for three weeks after the offence, but still you did not report it," said Justice Cheda before ruling that there were no extenuating circumstances.

Matibe´s Pro Deo lawyer, Mr Nathaniel Tawanda Mashayamombe of Mashayamombe and Company Attorneys, had urged the court to find that there were extenuating circumstances, arguing that there was no premeditation regarding the commission of the offence, but that it happened on the spur of the moment. He said that Mathibe had consumed a sizable quantity of liquor, although he insisted when he was giving evidence under oath that he had been in his proper state of mind.

Mr Erick Moyo of the attorney general´s office urged the court to find that there were no extenuating circumstances. He noted that a state witness, Leonard Dube, said when they left a local suburb, Pumula, they "were looking for money" and that no one drank beer because no one had money.

Asked if he had any reason why the death sentence should not be passed on him, Matibe could only say he wished Tsikidze "were here to say if he heard the alleged instruction," referring to evidence led in court that he had told Tsikidze to finish off the South African.

He further claimed that his continued association with Tsikidze after the murder was because Tsikidze constantly reminded him that he would implicate him in the commission of the crime and pleaded with the court to be lenient with him.

The court heard that on 26 September 2007, shortly after midnight, the South African from Pretoria, who was working in Livingstone, Zambia, was parked at Pines Brothers Supermarket along 8th Avenue in Bulawayo. He was driving a Nissan Sentra with South African registration plates.

Tsikidze, in the company of Matibe and Dube, awakened him and produced a police identity card and advised Oosthuyse that he was under arrest for wrongful parking. He told him he was to drive to the police station to pay a fine.

He then let them into his car, together with Dube. Instead of directing him to Bulawayo Central Police station, they directed him to the corner of Jason Moyo Street and 2nd Avenue, where they stopped him in the middle of the road.

They ordered him to get out of the car but he refused. Tsikidze produced a pistol and Dube disembarked from the vehicle and ran away.

Tsikidze shot the man in the head while he was inside the car and pulled his body to the passenger´s seat and he got behind the steering wheel. In order to cover up the offence, they drove the deceased´s car and dumped the body at Bedminton Farm in the Nyamandlovu com-mercial farming area outside Bulawayo. They took his car, a fridge, cellphone and R700.

On 28 November 2007, the remains of Oosthuyse were recovered from the farm, together with his passport and a wrist watch. According to the post-mortem report, the cause of death could not be ascertained because only skeletal human remains comprising a fragmented skull, 13 spinal bones, left tibia, right tibia and both femurs were recovered.

On November 3 that year, Matibe was arrested during the course of a robbery at Mership House along Main Street, resulting in the recovery of a BSAP 170 CZ pistol, which was later linked to the death of Oosthuyse.

In his defence, Matibe is claiming that he took possession of the pistol from Tsikidze after Tsikidze had given his jacket to his girlfriend, leaving the firearm exposed.

In its judgment, the court found that it was clear from the testimony given that Matibe was actively participating in the commission of the crime.