09 August 2013 :

A thirty-year-old man has been sentenced to death in Zambia for brutally killing his wife and his two-year-old child.
Kitwe High Court judge Judy Mulongoti sentenced to death Julius Kalwambisha for axing Noreen Musonda, 23, and strangling Chiwala Kalwambisha, 2, between August 8 and 9, 2011 in Chingola.
Ms Musonda and the baby were found dead in the house with household goods strewn on the floor while her body was lying in a pool of blood, facing downwards, and an axe stuck in her head.
The child was strangled and had whitish fluids oozing from its mouth and nose.
In sentencing Kalwambisha, Ms Justice Mulongoti said considering the injuries sustained by the deceased persons, it was clear that the person who committed the offence had malice aforethought.
Ms Justice Mulongoti said the manner in which Kalwambisha killed his wife and child was traumatic.
She said Kalwambisha took the life of his own wife and child, therefore he deserved no leniency from the court.
“The manner in which the deceased persons were killed was very traumatic and it is saddening that the accused person can take the life of his own wife and child in such a cruel manner,” she said.
Ms Justice Mulongoti noted that the prosecution witnesses were candid in their testimonies unlike Kalwambisha who was careful and seemed to have rehearsed his testimony.
The court rejected Kalwambisha’s defence and found it unreasonable.
Kalwambisha, who was apprehended in Solwezi by members of the public and handed over to the police, had denied committing the offence.