Man killed wife in Broxburn weeks after abuse case collapsed
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Veronica Chinyanga begged for her life as her husband turned on her in their back garden in Broxburn
An NHS worker who murdered his wife just weeks after an earlier domestic abuse case collapsed has been jailed for a minimum of 18 years.
Kasikai Chinyanga, 47, killed Veronica Chinyanga as she begged for her life in the back garden of their home in Broxburn, West Lothian, on 9 June last year.
The 42 year-old mother had predicted Chinyanga may not forgive her for previously reporting him to police.
Ms Chinyanga was repeatedly struck with a pronged garden tool - in front of neighbours - before being stabbed in the stomach with a knife.
Chinyanga returned to the High Court in Glasgow on Tuesday having earlier admitted to the murder.
Jailing him for life, Lord Mulholland said the killing had been "cowardly, savage and brutal".
The couple had moved to Scotland from Zimbabwe in 2008.
They had a teenage son together and Veronica's 20 year-old daughter also lived with them.
Chinyanga worked in finance for the NHS. He was training to be an accountant at the time.
His wife - born Chitsidzo, but known as Veronica - was involved in a project to help international health workers adapt to a new country.
Prosecutor Wojciech Jajdelski told how there had been "a history of domestic incidents" between the couple.
He added: "Despite some being reported, criminal proceedings were not concluded due to an apparent reluctance on the part of Veronica Chinyanga to attend court.
"In particular, her second failure to attend as a witness in a summary trial on 27 May 2024 - two weeks before (the murder) - lead to discontinuation of the case."
The charge had included a claim that Chinyanga had been aggressive with his wife, struggled with her and pushed her in early 2023.
The court heard how on 2 June 2024, Ms Chinyanga had texted one of her sisters to say she believed her husband "was not going to forgive her" and was "bitter" at her calling police in connection with her previous allegations.
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Times
8 minutes ago
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Colombian man who hid body parts in suitcases guilty of murder
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Telegraph
38 minutes ago
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I tracked down my aunt's killer on Facebook
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Sergison was left feeling like it had been all for nothing. Throughout, she had been told by the Foreign Office not to do anything with the information she had, that the South African authorities were dealing with it. That was no longer enough to keep Sergison quiet. 'He was still out and enjoying his life. And the South African police were too overwhelmed to be doing anything beyond ticking boxes,' she says. 'The British government had never posted his image online and foolishly I had listened to them. But I had all these new photos. I wondered if I posted them, would someone recognise him now?' On July 30 2020, the sixth anniversary of Robinson's murder, Sergison decided to go for it. Writing: 'Six years ago today this man raped and murdered my aunt Christine Robinson. Andrew Ndlovu is still a free man enjoying his life after taking hers.' Ian Cameron, of Action Society, shared the post, causing it to go viral, with more than 70,000 people sharing it. 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Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
Colombian man guilty of murdering UK couple, left body parts in suitcases
LONDON, July 21 (Reuters) - A Colombian national was convicted on Monday of murdering two men in London before taking parts of their dismembered bodies in suitcases to Bristol's Clifton Suspension Bridge. Yostin Andres Mosquera, 35, was visiting 62-year-old Albert Alfonso and 71-year-old Paul Longworth at the London flat they shared in July 2024 when he killed the pair and decapitated them, prosecutors said. Mosquera – who prosecutors said had engaged in extreme sexual acts with Alfonso – then put some of the couple's dismembered bodies in two suitcases and attempted to dispose of the bodies in Bristol, southwest England, before he was caught and charged. Prosecutor Deanna Heer told jurors at Woolwich Crown Court that Mosquera killed Longworth with a hammer, before stabbing Alfonso to death after the pair had sex – which was recorded in a video played several times to the jury. Mosquera said in his evidence that Alfonso - who he alleged had been abusive to him and had threatened his family - had killed Longworth before Mosquera killed Alfonso. He had pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder, but admitted the manslaughter of Alfonso by reason of loss of control. He was convicted by a jury on Monday and will be sentenced on October 24.
