A MAN from Mangwe District in Plumtree, who allegedly killed his parents in cold blood and set fire to a hut with their bodies, yesterday led police on indications at the homestead.
Lisani Nleya (45) appeared remorseless as he casually narrated how he carried out the callous killing.
Shackled in leg irons and handcuffs, Lisani told detectives that his parents — 83-year-old Mr Nicholas Nleya, who had partially lost his sight, and his wife Margaret (78) who was walking with the aid of a stick — deserved to die for bewitching him.
He said he acted alone in the ruthless double-murder that shocked the country in September last year.
Herdsmen at the homestead told police last year that they fled for their lives at around 10pm when they heard Margaret begging her assailant(s) to spare her life.
After killing his parents, Lisani allegedly lit Molotov cocktails and sticks of dynamite in the hut to destroy evidence.
He was arrested at a prophet’s house in Emakhandeni suburb on Sunday following a tip-off.
Lisani allegedly confessed to police that he had sneaked into the country from South Africa to commit the horrific crime.
He is said to have cut ties with his family and had not communicated with them in 15 years.
Lisani lived in South Africa but would come to Zimbabwe to spend time in Bulawayo with friends but never set foot at the homestead nor bothered to check on his relatives.
Yesterday he was brought to the homestead under heavy police guard.
Clad in white jeans, blue tackies, a brown jacket and a black mask, Lisani took the officers behind the homestead and showed them how he entered on the fateful day.
He said his weapons, which included three petrol bombs and a petrol container, were in a satchel on his shoulders.
Lisani told officers that he demanded money when he entered his parents’ bedroom hut and his mother extended R200 which he dismissed as too little.
His mother, he said, told him she did not have more as she had just paid a doctor for a check-up.
Forensic reports and a post-mortem indicate they may have been axed or stabbed to death before being set alight.
Lisani narrated how he threw three petrol bombs inside the room.
Like a sniper, he said, he threw the first bomb which ignited the house and provided light for him to aim at his targets with the second.
He said a third bomb did the greatest damage.
It blew up part of the house, shook the ground and threw him some meters away resulting in a leg injury.
Lisani said after being satisfied that his mission was complete, he dashed outside the homestead jumping over the fence to evade people he expected to arrive at any moment.
After observing from a distance for a while, he said he rushed to the place where he had left a bicycle and cycled about 90km to Figtree before getting a lift that took him to Bulawayo.
He took his parents’ two cellphones, sold one to a Nigerian in South Africa and the other is still at his rented place in South Africa.
Villagers who spoke to Chronicle on Monday said Lisani was the black sheep of the family who deserted the army and headed for South Africa.
They said he was different from his siblings who had “made it in life” and appeared disinterested in taking advantage of the same opportunities his parents afforded the family through hard work and education.
Some alleged he had on a number of occasions, threatened to deal with his parents whom he accused of bewitching him.
The couple was buried in one big grave just centimetres apart at Empandeni Mission Cemetery, on September 8 last year. – Chronicle
