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Fungai Lupande Court Reporter
The housemaid of the late Mr Leslie John Denn, who was the board chairman of CMED (Pvt) Ltd and managing director of Nemchen (Pvt) Ltd, yesterday said she was left with a lot of suspicion after discovering he had a bruised forehead and a bloodshot eye.

Yvonne Kapakasi said she suspected there was a fight before Mr Denn was shot dead. Mr Denn allegedly shot himself on the upper torso in May last year in unclear circumstances at his Borrowdale, Harare, house.

Kapakasi was testifying in the inquest into Mr Denn’s death being held at the Harare Magistrates’ Court. This was after Mr Denn’s fiancée, Ashton Pillary, requested to re-examine Kapakasi and the gardener John Choruma.

Prosecutor Ms Francesca Mukumbiri also led evidence from the Criminal Investigations Department’s forensic and ballistic expert, Detective Inspector Admire Mutizwa, investigating officer Knowledge Duri and attending detail Share Bindu.

Pillary, who is being represented by Mr Dumisani Mtombeni, asked the court to pause proceedings to allow her to go back to Kapakasi and Choruma’s evidence.

Kapakasi was put on the witness stand and Pillary asked her if Mr Denn was a smoker. In response, Kapakasi told the court that Mr Denn took up smoking only when he started cohabiting with Pillary.

“You told me that the last day you saw Mr Denn he was smoking weed?” asked Pillary, and Kapakasi said that was a lie.

“During the 20 minutes that you alleged that I was inside the bedroom where the deceased’s body was found did you hear any altercation or gunshot?” asked Pillary, and Kapakasi said she did not hear anything.

Kapakasi said Pillary asked Choruma to pour petrol on the bed where Mr Denn’s body was found and burn it. “You came back later to check if the mattress was all burnt,” she said.

Kapakasi said she was left with a lot of questions following Mr Denn’s death. She said Pillary told her she was having problems with Mr Denn.

Pillary tried to produce messages proving that their relationship was perfect, but presiding magistrate Mr Lazini Ncube ordered her to only ask ques-tions.

Kapakasi said she last saw Mr Denn around 9am and she did not know who visited when she went to the shops for almost an hour. She said from where Choruma was working, he could not have seen people entering the yard.

The inquest continues tomorrow.