Severino Tchivinda

Severino Tchivinda (born 1986) is an Angolan serial killer who murdered 5 people between November 2015 and April 2017.Tchivinda is known for changing his modus operandi after his first three murders and for keeping the Decapitation of two of his victims in his home. He confessed to his murders and was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment|30 years imprisonment. 
== Background ==
Severino Tchivinda was born in 1986 in Huambo, Angola, where he worked as a bricklayer. When living in Huambo he would be arrested for attacking a man with a Hoe (tool)|hoe leaving him severely injured and was also suspected of having raped a pregnant woman causing her to suffer a miscarriage. Tchivinda moved to Menongue, Cuando Cubango Province|Cuando Cubango and his neighbors described him as having no friends and that he would insult them whenever they tried to talk to him and that a girlfriend he had left him due to his "aggressive" behavior. During this time Tchivinda also fathered a child.
== Murders ==
In November, 2015, the bodies of a husband and wife would be found in the Havuliwaneno district of Menongue with both bodies having a cross carved into their necks. Two weeks later another body would be discovered in the Novo Neighbourhood of Menongue with this body also having a cross carved into the back of its neck. 
The murders were investigated by Law enforcement in Angola|The Serviço de Investigação Criminal de Angola (SIC) and they concluded that the killer was the same person due to the distinctive cross being carved into the victims necks. On March 3, 2016, the SIC detained Tchivinda as a suspect and held him at Menongue prison. Tchivinda would be frequently interrogated but denied any involvement. 
 
In August, 2016 The Angolan Public Ministry ordered that Tchivinda be released due to lack of evidence however the SIC put him under surveillance and had him followed by Undercover operation officers who observed him seemingly faking insanity. He would soon leave his home in secret and move into a new one in the Paz Neighborhood of Menongue. 
On March 22, 2017 the body of a decapitated woman was found in the Paz neighborhood. The SIC identified the woman as 17-year-old Juliana Maria Viqueia who was a student Education in Angola. On April 17, 2017, another body would be found with 22-year-old Fernanda Mundele being found decapitated. The police learned that she was with her boyfriend before an assailant attacked them with a machete and Mundele's boyfriend fleeing to find help. 
== Arrest, trial and imprisonment ==
After discovering Mundele's body the SIC questioned the residents of the Paz neighborhood and asked if any of their neighbors had violent tendencies and they ended up pointing them towards Tchivinda. When the SIC entered his home they discovered the severed, Decomposition heads of Viqueia and Mundele. Tchivinda was soon arrested without any resistance. 
When interrogated Tchivinda confessed to both the murders of Viqueia and Mundele but also the November, 2015 murders. When the SIC questioned him on why he beheaded his last two victims he explained that it was to divert suspicion by changing his modus operandi and when asked about why he kept the heads he explained that he wanted to use them for a Ritual.
His motive was because he believed that Viqueia and Mundele were prostitutes. He further explained that he was of sound mind and acted on his own free will and told the SIC that he would've continued killing if they hadn't arrested him. 
Tchivinda was also briefly the suspect of an attempted murder in the Paz neighborhood when a woman came forward stating that he believed he was the masked culprit that attacked her father with an ax and attempted to decapitate him before being fleeing after concerned neighbors came to his aid. However this attack occurred on April 4, 2016 while Tchivinda was still in prison and thus wasn't charged with this crime. 
After a mental evaluation determined Tchivinda to be of sound mind he was put on trial for 5 counts of murder and one count of Prohibition of drugs. On December 2, 2017, he was convicted on all charges by The Cuando Cubango Provincial Court and sentenced to 30 years imprisonment the maximum sentence allowed by Angolan law. 
Category:1986 births
Category:Serial killers
Category:People from Huambo