MANZINI – The pastor accused of raping and murdering four women revealed that he killed them inside the church where he preached before later transporting their bodies to a shallow ditch at Mfabantfu in Matsapha.
In a confession, Nkosingiphile Zwane detailed how he allegedly lured the women into the Apostolic Faith Church International premises, where he engaged in sexual acts with them before strangling them with a rope reportedly kept inside the church.
He reportedly stated that he later covered the bodies with sacks and waited until nightfall before disposing of them in a water canal in the same area.
In his statement, Zwane stated that he arranged meetings with the victims separately, after which he would take them to the church building. Once inside, he allegedly engaged in sexual intercourse with them before experiencing what he described as sudden and uncontrollable anger. It is during these moments, the statement indicates, that he would allegedly use a rope kept within the church to strangle the women.
Court records further highlight that the accused described the church as the primary scene of the killings, stating that the acts of violence occurred immediately after the sexual encounters. In one of the incidents, he allegedly stated that he waited until the victim was dressing after the encounter before approaching her from behind and strangling her.
The accused also highlighted that he targeted the women after arranging meetings with them, some of whom he allegedly met through Facebook, while another was reportedly met while travelling in a public minibus to Luyengo. He is said to have lured them under the pretext of a lunch outing before taking them to the church. He also stated that he promised some of the victims jobs.
In the confession, Zwane allegedly explains what he described as the underlying causes of his actions, linking them to a troubled personal history.
In his statement, he stated that he developed deep anger towards women following a series of traumatic experiences in his life, which he claims contributed to his loss of control during sexual encounters.
Court records indicate that the accused referenced a previous rape allegation in which he was accused of raping a minor while working as a security guard in Mbabane.
He stated that he spent more than two years in custody before being acquitted due to lack of evidence, claiming that the experience left him bitter and emotionally scarred.
He further alleged that after his release from custody, he got married but later discovered that his wife had children with another man during the marriage. According to the records, Zwane maintained that this revelation destroyed his trust in women and contributed to his emotional instability, stating that he would ‘go into a fit of rage’ following intimate encounters.
The confession also references another case in which he alleged that he was falsely accused of rape after a consensual encounter in which he claims to have given a woman E200 the following morning.
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All four women found with similar strangulation marks
MATSAPHA – All four women whose bodies were recovered from a shallow ditch at Mfabantfu were found with identical strangulation marks around their necks.
The accused person is Apostolic Faith Church International Pastor Nkosingiphile Allan Zwane.
The latest development has emerged as investigators continue piecing together the circumstances surrounding the gruesome deaths of the women, whose decomposing bodies were discovered after the suspect led police to the scene.
Information gathered yesterday indicates that investigators established that each of the four deceased women had the same injuries around the neck when their bodies were recovered.
The belief that they were strangled, according to sources close to the investigation stems from the discovery that all four bodies bore identical strangulation marks around the neck when they were recovered from the shallow ditch at Mfabantfu.
The accused reportedly led investigators to where the bodies had been dumped, outside his church - the Apostolic Faith Church International.
Investigators are now working to establish the sequence of events leading to each woman’s death and whether the killings followed a similar pattern.
Information gathered yesterday was that police were continuing with intensive investigations and had not ruled out preferring additional charges against the accused as more evidence emerged.
An investigator confirmed that all four bodies bore the same type of injuries, namely strangulation marks around the neck.
The investigator said the similarity in the injuries immediately became one of the most significant findings in the investigation because each of the women appeared to have sustained identical marks.
Investigators are now focusing on gathering forensic, physical and electronic evidence that may assist in establishing precisely what transpired before each woman died.
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Murder-accused pastor Nkosingiphile Zwane being escorted by a police officer after appearing before the Manzini Magistrates Court over four counts of murder and rape charges linked to incidents at the Apostolic Faith Church International in Mfabantfu.