JACK THE NOTORIOUS HANGMAN WHO EXECUTED IN HUNDREDS IN ZIMBABWE, ZAMBIA & MALAWI JAILS
By Fanuel Viriri
Jack Catchpole rose to infamy as the chief hangman for the Central African Federation from 1953 to 1963.
The Central African Federation, officially called the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, was a political and economic union combining Southern Rhodesia, Northern Rhodesia, and Nyasaland. Created by the British government on August 1, 1953, it was dissolved on December 31, 1963.
As the Federation’s official chief executioner, Catchpole operated in the jails of what are today Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Malawi.
Catchpole is reported to have carried out more than 150 executions in Rhodesia. By comparison, an unnamed hangman in independent Zimbabwe executed 79 people between 1980 and 2005.
Catchpole was the predecessor to Edward “Lofty” Milton, who became Rhodesia’s chief executioner. Milton served from 1954 to 1968. Note there is an overlap because Milton was appointed during the Federation and continued after it dissolved in 1963 and after UDI in 1965.
Most of the high-profile executions associated with Milton came during the political upheaval under Ian Smith in Rhodesia, especially after UDI in 1965. The most notorious were the 3 hangings on March 6, 1968 at Salisbury Central Prison — James Dhlamini, Victor Mlambo, and Duly Shadrack — carried out in defiance of a royal reprieve from Queen Elizabeth II.
After his tenure, Catchpole and his brother Len, a former mayor of Ndola in Zambia, ran a pub called The Elephant and Castle in Zambia. Catchpole was famous in Zambia for downing Castle pints in drinking competitions.
With independence in 1980, executions became less frequent, although some high-profile criminals were still hanged.
In October 1982, the first people to be hanged in independent Zimbabwe were 2 dissidents convicted of murder. Prime Minister Robert Mugabe had previously taken a stand against capital punishment on moral grounds, but in the months prior the country had suffered a wave of violence officially blamed largely on political dissatisfaction.
“The executed men were dissidents,” a government spokesman said then. “This is part of the Prime Minister’s warning that we will deal toughly with people like that. People should take note of this.” The two, Samuel Mahahe and Stephen Nare, were executed at Harare Central Prison. The prison had also been the scene of many hangings when Zimbabwe was white-ruled Rhodesia, particularly during the last years of the guerrilla war.
Executions continued after that, though they were few and far between. The most notable included Stephen Chidhumo, Edgar Masendeke, and Mandlenkosi Masina, all convicted murderers and robbers. Zimbabwe’s last known executioner reportedly quit in 2005. He was believed to be of Malawian descent.
A total of 79 people were hanged in Zimbabwe since independence.
The death penalty was abolished in Zimbabwe in December 2024.