A soldier, originally from Zimbabwe, who 'lay in wait' before repeatedly stabbing his former girlfriend to death in a frenzied attack has been sentenced to 26 years in jail.
Josphat Mutekedza broke into the home of nurse Miriam Nyazema, 37, in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, in July last year, a court heard.
When she returned home with a male friend, an enraged Mutekedza grabbed her around the neck before threatening her with an imitation gun, the hearing was told.
A jury heard that a scuffle followed which culminated in powerfully-built soldier stabbing the Zimbabwean-born 23 times in the face, head and chest.
He attacked her with such ferocity that the blade snapped and was left protruding from her back.
Mutekedza, 36, admitted killing care home nurse Miriam, but denied murder, and claimed that he was acting in self-defence.
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| UK Based Zimbabwean Who Knifed His Fiance 26 Times in the Face Jailed for 26 Years |
He said: "I was just trying to get anything. I was on the floor and there was two of them.
"That's when I stabbed Miriam. I don't remember stabbing her more than once."
As Nyazema lay dying in a neighbour's garden with the blade still lodged in her back, Mutekedza battered her around the head with a stool shouting: "She's caused this mess. I can't believe what she's done to me, it's all her fault."
He was also seen waving a handgun and called police saying: "She's been cheating on me - sleeping with another man. Where's that man, I'm going to f****** kill him."
Mutekedza was a private in the British territorial army
But a jury at Bolton Crown Court took just one hour to find him guilty of murder.
The trial heard how Mutekedza was originally from Zimbabwe and a private in the Territorial Army.
A picture taken from his Facebook page shows him in army uniform brandishing a large knife.
He had made two 999 calls from the scene telling the operators 'I stabbed someone' and 'she was cheating on me'.
He was arrested at the scene in a blood covered white shirt.
The attack happened as Jacob Chigombe watched on in horror.
Prosecutors say that he and the nurse had an embarked on a new relationship following her split with Mutekedza.
However, giving evidence via videolink from Zimbabwe, Chigombe had denied that the pair had been in a relationship.
Miriam worked at Shaw Side care home, a Bupa-run home in the Shaw area of Oldham, where he had been a member of staff there since 2002.
Passing sentence Judge Timothy Clayson told Mutekedza: "This was a sustained, savage and brutal attack planned by you as you waited in Miriams house.
"You ambushed Miriam and Jacob giving them no warning and little chance to flee.
"Your reason was that in your view Miriam had been cheating on you and was sleeping with another man.
"It is clear you had formed a deep attachment to her and that you hoped one day to marry her."
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