Jaison Muvevi

Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedIn
Jaison Muvevi
Jaison Muvevi.jpg
NationalityZimbabwe
CitizenshipZimbabwe
OccupationGold Mining Entrepreneur
Known forMurdering 3 people in early January

Jaison Muvevi (sometimes Jason) is a former Criminal Investigations CID officer and alleged murderer.

He is alleged to have shot and killed people in one day in the Wedza area, in Mashonaland East Province in January 2023. The people he murdered were the ZRP Officer in Charge for Wedza, a local apostolic faith prophet, and a bartender. Muvevi was arrested on the morning of Monday, 16 January 2023 after being on the run for three days.

Background

Muvevi grew up in Ruzane village in the Gombwe area in Hwedza. He did his secondary education at St Mathias Ruswa and wrote his Ordinary Level examinations in 1999. [1]

Those who grew up with him, including two of his classmates at St Mathias Ruswa, Edward Musengeyi and Netsai Tiriboyi said he was a cool person who didn't have any problems with anyone.

Musengeyi is the father to Munashe Majanhi (20) who was shot dead by Muvevi at Mukamba Business Centre.

He said they were not friends and were never enemies and they never once exchanged bad words.

Tiriboyi is a niece to Madzibaba Sirage (Crispen Kanerusine) who was shot dead by Muvevi at his shrine where he was ministering to his congregants. Tiriboyi was at the shrine when the shooting took place.

Events

Friday, 13 January Murders

On 13 January for reasons yet unclear, Jaison Muvevi drove to a Johanne Masowe eChishanu Apostolic Church shrine where his mother, Shupikai Muvevi, was in attendance together with other congregants.

At the shrine, he shot the prophet and leader of the shrine, Chrispen Kaneritsine at close range killing him instantly.

Witnesses at the church claim that his mother, shocked at the murder, retorted "What have you done my son?" Muvevi then told the church gathering to leave the shrine.

He then sped off and proceeded to Hwedza Business Centre. In the meantime, the shooting at the shrine was reported at ZRP Hwedza.

The officer-in-charge of Hwedza Police Station Inspector Maxwell Hove (43) mobilised a team of police officers and left ZRP Hwedza for Negombwe Village.

The team of police officers spotted Muvevi parked at the 25km peg along Hwedza-Murambinda Road. He was talking to an unidentified man.

The cops blocked Muvevi's vehicle and as they were getting out of their car, he opened fire and shot Insp Hove thrice in the head while he was seated in the passenger seat.

Muvevi also allegedly shot Detective Constable Tendai Mugova three times in the pelvis and abdomen, leaving him seriously injured.

The other police officers dropped an FN rifle with a magazine and 10 rounds and a CZ pistol and ran for dear life.

After the incident, Muvevi drove to Mukamba Business Centre where he went to Ruzema Bottle Store.

According to the charge sheet, Muvevi saw Munashe Majani, a barman, outside the bar in the company of Given Pambeni and Tinashe Musangano.

He allegedly called Majani over and had a brief chat with him before shooting him. The motive for the murder was not immediately ascertained.

Chrispen Kanerutsine was murdered on 13 January at a church shrine by Muvhevi

ZRP later released a statement:

SHOOTING OF FOUR PEOPLE IN WEDZA

The Zimbabwe Republic Police is urgently appealing for information which may immediately lead to the arrest of a suspect who is driving a Toyota Allion, new shape, white in colour, registration number AFW 7641.

The suspect went to an apostolic sect church gathering in Wedza today at 1430 hours and fatally shot dead a prophet. He then pounced on police officers who had reacted to the shooting and suddenly shot dead Officer in Charge Wedza and another policeman (who is critically injured).

The suspect drove his vehicle and went to Mukamba Business Centre where he shot another person dead and drove away. The suspect is currently on the run and the public is urged to approach him with extreme caution.

The public is urged to report at any nearest police station possible location of the suspect or contact National Complaints Desk number 0242 703631 or WhatsApp number 0712800197 or Mashonaland East Operations number 06523 20581

(NYATHI. P) Assistant Commissioner

Senior Staff Officer (Press and Public Relations)

to the Commissioner General of Police

Police General Headquarters


Saturday, 14 January Shootout & Escape

The abandoned Toyota Allion that Jaison Muvevi was traveling in. He abandoned the in Rusape following a shootout with the police and escaped on foot.

On the next day, Police announced that Muvevi had been intercepted in Rusape in the Chiduku area and that he had managed to escape arrest after a shootout with the police.

Muvevi was reported to have abandoned his Toyota Allion vehicle and escaped on foot.

The police recovered a firearm, an FN rifle, he had seized the previous day after shooting a police officer dead.

Sunday, 15 January Hiding in Mutare & Crossing into Mozambique

In Mutare, Muvevi bought a new blue work-suit from Wasu Shopping Mall for ZWL$14 250 using EcoCash.

It was the worksuit he was wearing when he was arrested in Mozambique the following day. [2]

After buying the work-suit, he boarded a Marymount-bound pirate taxi, resulting in him ending up at Mutare Boys’ High School en route to Mozambique.

He visited the school's compound barefooted and lied that he was on a mission to kill the marauding baboons in the area.

Muvevi confronted Zvikomborero Mangorwa soon after she emerged from the shower and violently knocked on her family’s door and demanded that all the occupants should move out.

He then asked for food and also produced a US$10 bill and asked Mangorwa to buy him a road-runner chicken to prepare a meal for him. She said she refused after realising that he was armed.

Muvevi didn't know where he was, and when told he was at Mutare Boys’ High School, he asked for directions to Mozambique.

But before he left, he also confronted Mangorwa's sister when she came back home. He told her he was on a mission to kill baboons as he had heard that they were a menace in the area, saying the shots he had fired were meant to scare away the baboons.

Muvevi said he wanted food and told the woman that he was prepared to cook his own food, but she refused. He then left when he realised that some people were coming to the house.

Raphel Nyahwema said he narrowly escaped death after Muvevi fired three shots towards him from less than 10 metres after he had tried to pick up a hoe handle on realising that he was armed.

Nyahwema said Muvevi had asked him to cook food for him but he refused. One of the bullets that missed Nyahwema perforated a geyser tank pitched at the staff quarters.

Muvevi hid in a toilet at Asei Game Park and the thickets around Mutare Boys’ High School as he evaded the detectives that were pursuing him on Sunday.[3]

After his arrest, Muvevi told the police that he crossed into Mozambique at night before hiring a motorcyclist to ferry him to Chimoio. The cyclist, who was filmed narrating his encounter with Muvevi, said he was offered US$200 to ferry him to Chimoio. Said the cyclist.

Muvevi approached me and asked for a ride to Chimoio. He said he would pay me US$200.

I realised that he had a gun after he pulled it out and pointed it on my back while he was seated on my bike.

By then the police were following me, but I evaded them in Manica town.

At one point I had convinced myself to take the risk of ferrying him to Chimoio. His offer of US$200 was too tempting for me.

I later convinced him to board a kombi since there would be many people in the kombi.

If he had insisted I had planned to jump off the motorbike at the police check point after Manica town and leave Muvevi to crush.

He paid me for my services using our metical currency. He said he is a criminal in Zimbabwe and not Mozambique.

Monday, 16 January Arrest In Mozambique

Jaison Muvevi was arrested on the morning of 16 January in Mozambique. He had crossed into the country after being on the run since the Saturday shootout.

Jaison Muvevi, pictured in handcuffs on 16 January 2023

Muvevi was arrested by Mozambican police in the Manica Province just a few minutes after crossing into the country. [4]

Repatriation

On 17 January, the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) confirmed Muvevi’s extradition from Mozambique. [5]

He was initially taken to Mutare before he was ferried to Harare ahead of his court appearance.

It was initially reported that Mozambican police refused to hand over Muvevi to their Zimbabwean counterparts because they wanted him to be tried there for the illegal possession of firearms. However, detectives managed to bring Muvevi back to Zimbabwe on 17 January after some formalities had been completed.

Court Appearance

Muvevi made his first court appearance on 18 January at the Harare Magistrates Court before Harare magistrate Dennis Mangosi.

The Investigating Officer in the matter, detective Pikisai Chikwazo, said they wanted more time to travel to Wedza for indications and to interview him. [6]

The court granted the request and released Muvevi into the custody of detectives.

Muvevi briefly appeared before Harare magistrate Tafadzwa Miti on 20 January 2023 charged with four murder counts and two attempted murder charges. [7]

He was remanded in custody to 6 February after being advised to seek bail at the High Court.

In the first charge, Muvevi is alleged to have shot and killed Nyarai Round (33) of Domboshava “for no apparent reason” in Harare’s Eastlea suburb on 19 November 2021.

Round was in the company of Nyasha Eusen while Muvevi was in the company of two unidentified men.

Eusen was arrested on 30 November 2021 and released on 24 January after the state withdrew charges against him and made him a key witness in the case instead. [8]

The state withdrew charges against Eusen after investigations pointed to Muvevi as the culprit.

The other three murder charges are in connection with the Hwedza killings on 13 January 2023.

On 6 February 2023, Muvevi was back in court for routine remand pending indictment to the High Court for trial on charges of murder.

He appeared before Harare magistrate Dennis Mangosi who remanded him in custody to 20 February.

He was charged with four counts of murder and two other counts of attempted murder.

Muvevi's alleged murder victims were identified as Nyarai Round (33) of Domboshava, Chrispen Kanerusine (48) of Hwedza, the officer-in-charge of Hwedza Police station Inspector Maxwell Hove (43) and Munashe Majani (27), who was a barman at Ruzema Bottlestore, Mukamba Business Centre, Hwedza.

He was charged with the attempted murder of Tendai Mugova, a police officer at Hwedza Camp and Raphael Nyahwema at Mutare Boys High School.

Muvevi appeared before Harare magistrate Dennis Mangosi on 20 February 2023 for routine remand and was further remanded in custody to 6 March.

Six Murder Charges Dropped

In February 2023, the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) cleared Muvevi of six murder charges following ballistic tests.[9]

Police had been keen to investigate whether he was involved in six other unsolved murder cases that took place in Harare and Chitungwiza from 2020 until his arrest.

That was after Muvevi was implicated in the suspected murder that took place in November 2022 in Eastlea, Harare.

Muvevi’s suspected murder weapon was taken for ballistic tests and it emerged that the forensic evidence did not match his murder weapon to the six cold cases.

Mental Illness

On 05 September 2023, Harare magistrate Dennis Mangosi ruled that Muvevi was not mentally fit to stand trial and should be committed to a psychiatric hospital.[10]

The ruling was made after Muvevi's lawyers made an application to have him examined in terms of the Mental Health Act after doctors concluded that he was mentally disturbed when he killed his victims.

At the mental health hospital, Muvevi will receive treatment and when he is fit he will be freed.

Video of arrest


Identity of his victims

  • Inspector Maxwell Hove (aged 43) - shot and killed on 13 January 2023 in Wedza in a shootout after attempting to arrest Muvevi.
  • Detective Constable Mugova - was shot on 13 January in the company of Maxwell Hove and other officers. He was injured and hospitalised.
  • Crispen Mubvana Kanerusine a.k.a Madzibaba Sirage (aged 62) - a self-styled prophet and leader of a Mapostori sect, Mubvana was shot and killed by Muvevi on 13 January 2023 at his church shrine.
  • Munashe Mujanhi (aged 20) - a bartender in Wedza

Mental State Examination

On 9 May 2023, Harare Magistrate Dennis Mangosi ordered that Muvevi be taken to a psychiatrist for a mental examination.[11]

Muvevi had through his lawyer Blessed Matandira claimed that he was mentally unfit, and wanted to be medically examined.

Mangosi did not oppose his application and remanded the matter to 24 May 2023.

References

  1. Rumbidzayi Zinyuke My former classmate killed my son: Shooting victim’s father, THerald, Published: 18 January 2023, Retrieved: 20 January 2023
  2. Tony Karombo Mozambique rebuffs Zimbabwe over fugitive Wedza triple murder suspect, ZimLive, Published: 20 January 2023, Retrieved: 16 January 2023
  3. Cletus Mushanawani Jaison Muvevi’s tainted mission, The Manica Post, Published: 20 January 2023, Retrieved: 20 January 2023
  4. Breaking News: Fugitive ex-cop Muvevi arrested in Mozambique, The Herald, Published:16 January 2022, Accessed: 16 Jan 2023
  5. Police Confirm Muvevi’s Extradition From Mozambique, Pindula News, Published: 20 January 2023, Retrieved: 20 January 2023
  6. Nyore Madzianike Detectives ask for more time with Muvevi, The Herald, Published: 18 January 2023, Retrieved: 20 January 2023
  7. Killer cop Muvevi hit with another charge, court told of how he killed four victims, motive remains mystery, NewZimbabwe.com, Published: 20 January 2023, Retrieved: 27 January 2023
  8. Murder suspect turns key witness in Jaison Muvevi murder trial, ZimLive.com, Published: 24 January 2023, Retrieved: 27 January 2023
  9. Richard Muponde, Muvevi cleared of six murder charges, but four remain, The Sunday Mail, Published: 26 February 2023, Retrieved: 28 February 2023
  10. Lindie Whiz, Wedza serial killer Jaison Muvevi won’t stand trial after mental health ruling, ZimLive1, Published: 05 September 2023, Retrieved: 07 September 2023
  11. Desmond Chingarande, Ex-killer cop Muvevi claims insanity, NewsDay, Published: 10 May 2023, Retrieved: 12 May 2023

Buy Phones on Credit.

More Deals
Feedback