Police arrest four in suspected murder network in Dodoma

Dodoma. Police have arrested four individuals on suspicion of involvement in a murder network that has caused death of eight people and injure five others in the capital Dodoma.

The suspects, all farmers residing in Mtumba area of Dodoma, were apprehended for their alleged participation in four murder incidents that occurred between July 1 and September 16, 2024, according to Dodoma Regional Police Commander George Katabazi.

The police identified the suspects as Paulo Mwaluko (22), Isack Richard (24), Ernest Richard (24), and Silvanus Shotoo (21).

Mr Katabazi said in a statement issued on September 27 that preliminary investigations have revealed the suspects have been attacking individuals with blunt objects after invading their homes.

After hitting the victims, they allegedly committed acts of sexual violence and set fire to scene to disguise the murders as electric shocks.

“Further investigations are ongoing to ensure that appropriate legal actions follow. The Dodoma police would like to thank the community for their cooperation, which facilitated the arrest of this murder network,” he stated.

Mr Katabazi said that the murder network responsible for recent incidents in Dodoma has been dismantled and all suspects are in custody. He emphasised that legal proceedings are pending to bring them to trial.

“Each suspect has their own method of committing crimes. It is a group that, essentially, consists of the same individuals who have been repeating the offenses and growing in number. Overall, it is a similar group that is involved,” he said.

Mr Katabazi asserted that the suspects are not operating under anyone's directives but are part of a murder group aiming to acquire wealth.

“When they went to the incidents, their intention was to steal money. When they enter homes, they look for cash and other valuables. They are after wealth,” he said.

Mr Katabazi reported that the suspects were involved in a murder that occurred on July 1, 2024, in the Mahomanyika Nzuguni area of Dodoma, where two young women, Maria Thomas (20) and Maria Timothy (22), were killed at a grocery where they worked, and their bodies were subsequently burned.

The Fire and Rescue Services described the incident as an act of arson, as the doors of the house were found locked from the outside, and one victim was discovered with her hands bound behind her with a cloth, while the other had head injuries.

Another incident occurred on August 28, 2024, in the Mbuyuni Kizota area, where Michael Richard (36) was killed by unknown assailants who then set fire to the mattress he was lying on. During the incident, Richard's wife Agnes Yared (34), and their children—Ezra (8), Witness (6) and Ephraim (3)—were injured and hospitalised.

The third incident took place on September 6, 2024, in Muungano A Street, in the Mkonze ward, where Mwamvita Mwakibasi (33) and her daughter Salma Ramadhani (13) were brutally attacked and killed. It is alleged that the suspects used a ladder to scale the wall of the house and then descended into the living room using a rope.

The suspects are also accused of killing three young women and setting their bodies on fire, while the homeowner, Lusajo Mwasonge (40), was injured and hospitalised at the Dodoma Regional Referral Hospital, following a tragic incident on September 16, 2024, in Segu Bwawani Street, Nala ward.