Wed, 26 Apr 2017 12:34:44 +0000
BY CHIKUMBI KATEBE
MURDER convict Precious Longwe has filed an appeal notice before the Court of Appeal against her conviction for shooting to death her husband Akakanda Litebele.
This is contained in a notice of appeal filed before the Court of Appeal by her legal counsel Osborn Ngoma yesterday.
High Court Judge Sharon Newa convicted Longwe, 31, for the murder of her husband whom she shot three times at close range on 25th May, 2016, at their Woodlands home in Lusaka.
Ms Justice Newa sentenced Longwe to death by hanging.
“Take notice that I Precious Longwe appeal to the Court of Appeal against the conviction/sentence/order/s of the High Court sitting in its original jurisdiction Mrs S. Kaunda Newa holden at Lusaka on the 13th of April, 2017,” she submitted.
The couple had been married for six years and had two young children, both below the age of five.
The couple lived in a house off Buluwe Road in Woodlands Extension where the incident happened in the early hours of 25th May, 2016, following the wife’s outing with friends.
Both Mr Litebele and Precious worked for the same financial institution where Longwe was also facing charges of theft by servant after over K200,000 was recovered from the couple’s bedroom on the morning of the murder incident.
Her employers, Banc ABC opened a case against Longwe, which failed to take off yesterday at the Lusaka Magistrate Court owing to the absence of the court handling the matter.
The accused appeared for mention and was informed the magistrate handling her matter was out of office for her annual vacation and would only return sometime next month.
Ms Justice Newa convicted Longwe on belief that she shot her husband because he reprimanded her for her late night escapade alone outside her matrimonial home.
She said it was evident the convict was upset that her husband had told her parents which infuriated her to the point of killing him.
The court argued that there was no evidence to show any sign of struggle for the weapon as claimed by Longwe, but that she shot him in cold blood.
