A suspected armed robber’s girlfriend, Monica Muguti, has been implicated in a series of armed robberies after police recovered stolen items from her home in Chitungwiza. The police acted on a tip-off that led them to Muguti’s residence in Unit M, where they discovered a number of items linked to the crimes, including jewellery and watches.
The court heard that Muguti received some of the stolen property from her boyfriend, Tawanda Manokore. Among the recovered items were bangles, a beads necklace, a green hip flask inscribed with “Stanley since 1913,” a Guess Waterpro silver and gold watch, a Jeep silver and blue watch, and a gold medal featuring a pig.
The first robbery occurred on October 26 this year, when Muguti, along with accomplices Sarezi Shonhiwa, Tafadzwa Chakuteka, and Willye Chirawu, attacked a married couple at their home on Christon Road, Christon Bank. As the couple prepared for bed, the gang approached the gardener at his cottage, armed with machetes and knives, and wearing balaclavas. They pretended to be police officers investigating a stolen laptop.
When the gardener opened the door, he was grabbed and handcuffed. The robbers then escorted him to the main house, where they confronted the couple, falsely claiming they had arrested their gardener for theft. Believing the intruders, the couple opened their door, only to be pushed inside. They were restrained with shoelaces as the robbers demanded cash and valuables while threatening to shoot them.
The robbers ransacked the house, making off with US$160 cash, a handbag, and US$600 from a wallet. Additionally, they stole six mobile phones, a gas tank, groceries, and even broke open a safe in the main bedroom, taking a 9mm Walther pistol, 14 live rounds, and two empty magazines. After loading their loot into the couple’s blue Toyota Rav 4, they drove away, later abandoning the vehicle along with a 5kg gas tank, 10kg of mealie meal, and 10kg of beef in the Mazowe area.
The second robbery took place on November 3 at the couple’s farm in Goromonzi. While preparing dinner, they were confronted by the same trio and their accomplices, who entered through an open door. Armed with unknown pistols and machetes, the robbers threatened the couple, ordering them to lie on the ground.
The couple complied, and the robbers bound their hands with laptop charger cables, demanding cash. The couple led them to their bedroom, where the intruders stole an iPhone 15 Pro Max, various clothes, a laptop, a Bluetooth speaker, and a toiletry bag. They then left one of the complainants in his bedroom with the lights turned off while they returned to the other, demanding cash.
During this encounter, the robbers seized US$1,000, an iPhone 13 Pro Max, a wallet containing US$2,000, and additional jewellery. They tied the couple’s legs with electric cables and continued ransacking the pantry and other rooms, taking various groceries and firearms from a gun cabinet, including a Beretta 12 bore shotgun, a .410 Beretta shotgun, and a pellet gun.
The entire robbery was captured on CCTV, and images of the suspects quickly went viral on social media, prompting a swift police response. Following the incident, police apprehended Chakuteka, who was identified as an accomplice by Shonhiwa.
Chakuteka then led detectives to his residence at the Inkomo Barracks Marriage Quarters, where they recovered a 9mm Walther pistol, serial number 4170, along with two empty magazines and 14 live rounds hidden in the chimney of his official company house beneath some rubble. This firearm was confirmed to be stolen from the Christon Bank robbery.
