A jealous husband has been found guilty of murdering his wife with an axe and dumping her body in a Lidl car park after suspecting she was having an affair.
Norbert Chikerema struck Nyasha Kahari, known as Gillian, more than 40 times and was today convicted of her death by a jury at Birmingham Crown Court.
The judge told Chikerema, a care home worker: “You have clearly been convicted of a very serious offence of which the sentence is life imprisonment.”
During the trial, the court heard Chikerema, from Birmingham, and his wife ran a nursing home. The 42-year-old suspected the mum-of-four was seeing another man and had hired a private detective to follow her.
After killing the 35-year-old, he drove to a Lidl car park in Marston Green near Solihull, West Midlands, and was found in the parked vehicle beside his wife’s body.
Police officers discovered the victim with her seat belt still on. Prosecutor said the couple left their home in their Nissan car at around 7.30pm on January 29 to visit three addresses.
The court was told the attack took place at around 11pm as they were due to return home.
Kevin Hegarty, QC, prosecuting, said: “When he attacked her, she was sitting in the front passenger seat of their Nissan car. He used an axe to strike his wife over and over again.
“The blows were aimed principally at her neck and her head. She died in the car with her seat belt on. She could not get away. She was strapped in the car and she was effectively defenceless.”
The jury was told the defendant tilted the passenger seat down and covered the body with a blanket before returning home to change his blood-stained clothes.
He then used the axe to attack two cars of men he believed to be in relationships with his wife.
Mr. Hegarty said Chikerema then drove the body to the car park at around 4am.
West Midlands Police Detective Inspector Paul Joyce, from Force CID, said: “Chikerema’s actions mean four children now have to live without their mother; a family has been tragically ripped apart and he will have to live with the consequences of his brutal attack forever.
“He suggested he was not of sound mind at the time of the killing and pleaded not guilty on the grounds of diminished responsibility.
“However, we demonstrated a degree of advanced planning − notably taking the axe out in the car that night − and the jury quickly found him guilty.”
A tribute released on behalf of Ms Kahari’s family read: “Gillian was a decent, loving mother of four children, two boys and two girls. She was a caring and hardworking woman who always worked to keep her family happy. Gillian will be missed by her family and all those who knew her.”
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