Hitmen refuse to kill woman

A MAN in Australia who commissioned a hit – in Africa – on his partner whom he suspected was having an affair, was shocked to find her very much alive… and with proof of his murderous intent.

On Monday, the Victoria Supreme Court found the wouldbe killer guilty of incitement to murder – the plot had failed after the men refused, saying they did not kill women.

Congo-born Blenga Kalala commissioned the murder of Noela Rukundo, his partner of 10 years and mother of his three children, to be carried out while she was in Burundi attending a funeral. Kalala confessed after Rukundo’s unexpected return, the prosecutor said, citing a recorded telephone conversation where he begged for her forgiveness and said he thought she was having an affair.

In January, Rukundo was in Burundi for her stepmother’s funeral when she spoke by phone to Kalala, who suggested she leave the hotel to get some air, Douglas Trapnell QC told the court.

When she stepped outside, she found a man waiting with a gun, who bundled her into a car and took her to another location, where an accomplice told her they had been hired to kill her.

They then gave her recordings of their phone conversations with Kalala, and receipts for the $7 000 they allegedly received in payment.

Kalala had told the community his wife died in an accident, and had received considerable financial contributions to help him support the couple’s three young children.

He pleaded guilty and was remanded for sentencing at a future date. – ANA, DPA