By Patience Gondo
The Bulawayo High Court has sentenced Gweru businessman Peter Dube to two life terms plus 20 years for the 2021 shootings that killed two people and left two others seriously injured.
The sentencing concluded a case that has spanned more than four years, involved international police cooperation and featured repeated attempts by the accused to argue mental instability.
Dube was sentenced on November 26 following his conviction on two counts of murder and two counts of attempted murder.
In a statement on Wednesday , the National Prosecuting Authority of Zimbabwe (NPAZ) said the court imposed life imprisonment for each murder count and 10 years for each attempted-murder count.
NPAZ said the shootings occurred on April 22 2021 after a domestic dispute at Dube’s apartment in Gweru’s central business district.
Evidence indicated that Dube confronted Shelton Chiduku and Gamuchirai Madungwe, who were seated in a vehicle outside the flat, before fatally shooting both at close range.
He then returned to the apartment where he shot his second wife, Nyasha Nharingo, and her sister, Nyaradzo Nharingo, in what the court ruled were deliberate attempts to kill them.
Both sisters initially survived, although Nyaradzo later died from complications related to her gunshot injuries.
The shootings triggered an international manhunt after Dube fled Zimbabwe the same night.
Investigators later established that he crossed into South Africa, moved through Eswatini and assumed a false Mozambican identity before settling in Ireland, where he lived undetected for nearly two years.
He was arrested in Dublin in June 2023 for immigration violations and deported via Mozambique.
Upon his return to Zimbabwe in April 2024, he was immediately brought before the courts.
His trial faced delays as the defence insisted he was mentally unstable during the shootings.
Two psychiatric evaluations conducted in 2024 declared him fit to stand trial, clearing the way for proceedings. The trial opened in July 2025, and he was convicted on 14 November 2025.
During sentencing, Justice Munamato Mutevedzi dismissed Dube’s claims of insanity, ruling that he was fully responsible for his actions.
The judge said that Dube’s ability to flee the country, obtain false identities and coordinate cross-border travel demonstrated awareness and planning inconsistent with mental incapacity.
Prosecutors said the shootings were driven by jealousy after Dube accused Chiduku of having an affair with Nyasha, and the court agreed that the attacks were premeditated and deliberate.
NPAZ said communities should seek peaceful resolution of domestic disputes, warning that unresolved tensions continue to fuel violent crimes.