Christopher Zikode
Serial killer
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- Gender
- male
- Country
- South Africa
- Location
- Donnybrook, Natal, South Africa
- Date of birth
- 1974
- Age at first offence
- 19
- Characteristics
- rape, sex with corpse
- Victim profile
- Men and women between 20 and 30
- Method of murder
- Shooting
- Date(s) of murder
- 1993 - 1995
- Years active
- 1993–1995
- Date of arrest
- September 29, 1995
- Status
-
Sentenced to a prison term of 140 years on January 7, 1997
Name
Christopher Zikode
Other names / aliases
Mhlengwa Zikode; “Donnybrook Serial Killer”
Background
Christopher Mhlengwa Zikode was a South African serial killer known as the “Donnybrook Serial Killer,” after the rural Natal midlands town of Donnybrook where his crimes were committed.
He murdered 18 victims and attempted to kill 11 more between 1993 and 1995. The rampage began when he was 19. All his victims were between 20 and 30.
The offence
His modus operandi involved kicking open the door of victims’ houses, shooting men in the head, and dragging women to nearby plantations, where he raped them repeatedly—sometimes for as long as five hours—and then killed them. If women resisted, he would shoot them first and then rape their corpses, including necrophilia. He also attacked women from behind in footpaths in the area.
An alternative technique used with several victims involved ambushing women or girls on lonely footpaths, carrying them on to be raped and killed.
He was convicted on 21 charges including eight murders, five rapes, five attempted murders, and one indecent assault. These offences were committed between April and September 1995.
Investigation
The proceedings highlighted South Africa’s star forensic profiler, Dr. Micki Pistorius.
Arrest
Zikode was arrested for the first time in July 1995 for the attempted murder of a female victim named Beauty Zulu. He was granted bail on that charge. During the period on bail, he committed at least five more offences, including one murder, one rape, two attempted murders, and one housebreaking with intent to rape.
Zikode was jailed again in September and then held without bond. He went to trial in late 1996.
Mhlengwa, 21 was arrested on September 29, 1995.
Trial
Zikode went to trial in late 1996.
Sentencing
Zikode was sentenced on January 7, 1997, to a prison term of 140 years.
A High Court judge sentenced him and avoided comment on the “gory details” of the case, but remarked specifically on Zikode’s “contemptible” attitude toward women. The judge said during sentencing that Zikode had absolutely no regard for human life and found it unnecessary to review the “gory details” of the case.
The judge noted “with dismay” that Zikode was arrested for the first time in July 1995 for the attempted murder of Beauty Zulu.
The sentencing included five life sentences for a six-month rape and murder rampage.
Outcome
Zikode was sentenced to a prison term of 140 years on January 7, 1997.
Other details
Michael Newton - An Encyclopedia of Modern Serial Killers - Hunting Humans.
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