Bridget Makaza moved through the quiet house like a shadow. In the stillness of May 14, 2018, inside their Harare home.
She raised a revolver and fired three times at her sleeping husband, MaCloud Zvavovavaviri Mapanga – twice in the neck, once in the shoulder.
The silence that followed was thick. Final.
The murder was not born of rage but of calculation. Prosecutors said she had bought the gun – a Rossi .38 revolver with its serial number erased – while in South Africa in early 2018.
She smuggled it back into Zimbabwe and waited. When the moment came, she staged a false robbery, scattering household items to make it look like thieves had struck in the night.
But truth, like smoke, always finds a way out.
A web of lies
Mapanga was no ordinary man. He was the proud owner of Kurai Coaches, a revered transport firm with buses that crisscrossed Zimbabwe’s highways.
His death jolted Harare’s business circles and sent detectives down a trail that quickly turned grim.
Investigators peeled back the façade of a troubled marriage – jealousy, resentment, and a thirst for control. Makaza’s tale of armed robbers collapsing through the door fell apart within weeks.
By July 2018, police had gathered evidence linking the weapon to her and were closing in.
The High Court would later call her actions “a calculated act of vengeance”. She had planned everything – from the purchase of the gun to the last tear she shed for the cameras.
The vanishing wife
When the net began to tighten, Bridget Makaza vanished. She fled Zimbabwe in August 2018, leaving behind whispers, grief, and questions.
By 2019, she had quietly settled in the United Kingdom, reinventing herself under the radar, always a step ahead of suspicion.
For six years, she lived a life built on escape. However, guilt, akin to gravity, exerts its own force.
In 2024, she surrendered to authorities and was extradited to Zimbabwe to stand trial for the murder she could no longer outrun.
When Bridget Makaza appeared in court, she was calm and composed. The woman once seen beside her husband at business events now sat behind bars – expressionless, awaiting judgement.
Judgement day
On October 21, 2025, Justice Emelia Muchawa delivered her ruling at the Harare High Court.
Bridget Makaza was found guilty of murder with actual intent and sentenced to 27 years in prison.
“Cold-blooded,” the judge said.
“A deliberate act of vengeance driven by jealousy and deceit.”
The courtroom froze. The words struck like hammer blows. For Mapanga’s family, it was the closure they had waited seven long years for – though not the peace they once knew.
It served as a sobering reminder to the country that evil is not always a stranger at the door.
Sometimes, it sleeps beside you.
READ ALSO: Wadzanai Manyore: 13 Tantalising Photos of Zimbabwe’s Most Beautiful Farmer
The late Macloud Zvavovaviri Mapanga. Photo/courtesy
A nation reacts
In Harare’s restaurants and marketplaces, the story spread fast. How could a woman so meticulous, so composed, plan such a crime?
What happened behind those closed doors?
On social media, disbelief poured in. Memes, outrage, sympathy, and moral lessons – all collided in a digital storm.
“Three bullets”, one post read, “and an empire undone.”
The case ignited a heated discussion about domestic violence, gender roles, and the quiet collapse of relationships behind manicured walls.
PAY ATTENTION: Reach us at info@gotta.news.
