Christopher Mhlengwa Zikode — Donnybrook Serial Killer 
Fast Facts:
- Born in 1974 in South Africa
- He shot 18 men and woman in their twenties over 2 years and raped and/or committed necrophilia – it’s believed the catalyst for his murders were pages of naked pin-ups form magazines his mother found and brought home
- He was discovered when one of his almost-victims recognised him
- Charged with multiple murders, attempted murders, rapes and indecent assault
- Found guilty and sentenced to a prison term of 140 years
Zikode was the middle child of 7 to poor parents. His mother collected firewood for a living and his father was paralysed. The family had to move a lot because of faction fighting.
His mother found some magazines left behind by soldiers in the forest. She brought them home. Zikode stuck the pictures of naked and semi-naked women posing on a chair on his wall. It’s thought this was the catalyst for his killings as surviving victims later told police Zikode had raped them on a chair.
All Zikode’s victims were in their 20s. He followed the same modus operandi in nearly all his kills. He chose a house, broke in and shot any men before taking the women to nearby plantations where he’d rape them for hours, then kill them. If they resisted he’d kill first and then commit necrophilia. He murdered 18 people but attempted to murder a further 11 over a 2 year period.
He was eventually convicted on 21 charges (8 murders, 5 rapes, 5 attempted murders, 1 indecent assault). He was sentenced to 140 years in prison which included 5 life sentences.
April 30, 2018 at 10:54 am
Congrats on making it to Z! What an accomplishment, AJ.
May 1, 2018 at 2:23 pm
Thanks, Jacqui. It’s been fun.
April 30, 2018 at 6:28 pm
Congratulations on completing the challenge! I’ve really enjoyed reading your posts, even the more sinister ones like today.
Zero to Hero from Hercules (and Zombie by The Cranberries)
May 1, 2018 at 2:24 pm
Thanks, Lauren. I worried my strange fascination with serial killers might not be as fascinating for others.
April 30, 2018 at 8:50 pm
Looks like you saved the worst for last, AJ. Worst guy, not worst post. There were no worst posts. I thoroughly enjoyed reading each and every one of them. Congratulations on completing the series, AJ. You did a first-class job of researching these serial killers and then presenting each of them objectively, succinctly, with minimal gore.
May 1, 2018 at 2:29 pm
Thanks, Karen. I love to research so I enjoyed pulling the posts together.
April 30, 2018 at 11:06 pm
Another scary one. Yikes!
Congrats for completing the challenge!
Dena
https://denapawling.blogspot.com/
May 1, 2018 at 2:30 pm
He’s a nasty one because of the torment he put his victims through.
May 1, 2018 at 12:35 am
Kudos for finding a Z! Sounds like a very mixed up individual.
Bravo on making it all the way through the AtoZ.
Tasha
https://tashasthinkings.blogspot.com/ – Tasha’s Thinkings – Movie Monsters
May 1, 2018 at 2:30 pm
Another sociopath. There seem to be too many in the world.
May 4, 2018 at 3:18 am
Congratulations on completing the Challenge. This was a great theme! Grisly, maybe, but still great! 😉
May 4, 2018 at 2:30 pm
Thanks, John. It’s been fun doing the challenge and also visiting the other participant’s blogs. Some great themes this year all round =)
May 4, 2018 at 7:49 am
Karen Hume said exactly what I was thinking: it seems you saved the worst for last. Some of these people look so unhinged in their photos, I would probably be creeped out if I saw them in person, even without knowing the history.
You did a great A to Z. Terrific, awful theme, and done really well.
May 4, 2018 at 2:32 pm
Thanks, Linda. It’s a relief to know I managed to skim the line between making it interesting but not making it ick.
Some of these people look scary. But for so many they managed to maintain a “normal” persona to the outside world. I wonder if they had anything about them that seemed a little off?
May 4, 2018 at 2:34 pm
My apologies, Lynda, as soon as I hit “post comment” I realised I’d spelt your name incorrectly.
May 4, 2018 at 1:10 pm
Congratulations on finishing the challenge. Your theme never failed to fascinate me, though some of them, like Z, were pretty hard to read! I hope you have lighter subject matter to occupy your mind for the next week or so 🙂
May 4, 2018 at 2:35 pm
I kinda expected people to read with a bit of a shudder. I think I would be worried if anyone read these posts otherwise. I’m definitely looking to post on much lighter topics for a little while now 🙂
May 6, 2018 at 3:57 pm
So sad what great lengths killers will go to satisfy their needs. I feel prison isn’t nearly enough punishment.
Also I realize this is a pretty current case. heck the guy is younger than I am!!
Congratulations on completing A-Z! I think you I visited every single one of your posts. Who knew despicable criminals were such a magnet? Also who knew there are enough out there to cover the entire alphabet, including the hard letter?
May 11, 2018 at 4:48 pm
Thank you for sticking with my rather grim topic, Tamara. I wasn’t sure when I picked it if I could get through the alphabet, sadly I think there was actually choice with every letter (even the tricky ones).