British lecturer axed to death in Zimbabwe

An expatriate British lecturer has been axed to death in Zimbabwe for his clothes, his mobile phone and a wallet containing less than £6.

Jerzy Toloczko, 51, had just returned from a holiday with his family in Leicestershire when he was attacked by two men at his home, hit repeatedly with an axe and buried in a shallow grave in his garden.

Mr Toloczko's gardener and another man have been arrested, and police believe they hatched a plan to murder the lecturer while he was on holiday from the National University of Science and Technology in Bulawayo. He had been teaching chartered surveying there for two years after travelling in Africa. Yesterday his Polish-born mother, Janina, said her son had said how much he loved Zimbabwe when he was in England last month.

"He always made friends there, he had no enemies and he was perfectly happy," Mrs Toloczko, 77, from Leicester, said. "He always said the troubles in Zimbabwe were exaggerated and he heard about more crime in London than in Bulawayo. He felt very safe.

"He said the trouble was all out in the countryside. He just loved travelling, going to new countries and enjoying their cultures," she said.

Mrs Toloczko said her son, who was known as Jed, was not politically active and was not involved in any opposition to the Zimbabwean government.

"I think these two just thought he had a nice house and was a rich man. They took his wallet and they thought he had a lot of money, but there was only 500 Zimbabwean dollars [£5.80] in it," she said.

Mrs Toloczko, who came to England as a refugee after the Second World War, added: "He told me he would come and look after me when he left Zimbabwe and now I have lost him, I have lost my life."

Police in Bulawayo told a government-owned newspaper that the murder was not politically motivated and was a "purely criminal case". The two suspects, both in their 20s, are expected to be charged with murder.

Superintendent Kingston Moyo, the head of Bulawayo's CID, said the two suspects were arrested after they visited a traditional healer to be cleansed of the victim's spirit.

He said the two men jumped on Mr Toloczko as he parked his Mercedes Benz at his home near Bulawayo. The gardener hit him on the head with an axe repeatedly. They then wrapped his body in a blanket and buried him in a shallow grave.

"The two young men had earlier dug the shallow grave during the day in the presence of the lecturer who presumably thought that it was a rubbish pit as it was near a heap of garbage in the yard," he said.

Mr Toloczko's family have been advised against travelling to Zimbabwe because of the political instability in the country. They are hoping the body will be flown to Britain for a funeral within two or three weeks.

Mr Toloczko's brother, Roman, 49, a valuer from Oadby, Leicestershire, said Mr Toloczko had been humbled by his experiences in Africa. "Africa was one of his great loves. He was particularly taken by Africa and Zimbabwe because of the simplistic lifestyle and freshness of the people there.

"He was a carefree bachelor that thoroughly enjoyed life and the company of friends all over the world," he said.

Mr Toloczko was a keen sportsman who had played golf all over the world and came home not only to visit his family, but to enter golf competitions with former colleagues. A Foreign Office spokeswoman said officials were keeping the family informed.