75-year-old granny charged with conspiracy to commit murder

A 75-year-old woman was on Wednesday, March 11, charged before a Nakuru court with conspiracy to commit murder.

The court was told that Mary Wangui, with others who had not be arraigned, plotted to kill Isaiah Mutonyi on October 30, 2019 over property dispute.

Wangui and her accomplices allegedly met at JB Estate in Nakuru East to plan Mutonyi’s assassination.

Nakuru Resident Magistrate Faith Munyi heard that Wangui threatened Mutonyi, a complainant in a succession row, after Mutonyi was given a date to testify in court.

The complainant filed a report with police, claiming Wangui had threatened his life. After months of investigations, Wangui was arrested.

Wangui and Mutonyi are embroiled in succession dispute, with each of the parties claiming a share of the multi-million estate of Wangui’s Late husband. Wangui’s other in-laws are also claiming they were allocated shares of the inheritance.

The accused, however, denied the charges, and sought to be released on “reasonable” bond terms.

Wangui’s lawyer, Steve Opar, requested the court to free his client on personal bond, a move that was opposed by the Prosecution.

Opar argued that his client was not a flight risk, and due to her age, it would be easy for her to attend court sessions because “she doesn’t have much to do”.

The Prosecution, led by State counsel Jecinta Kibiriu, urged Resident Magistrate Faith Munyi to throw out Opar’s request for personal bond for his client, saying the crime Wangui has been charged with is very serious.

Magistrate Munyi concurred with the State prosecutor, and released Wangui on a bond of Ksh300, 000 with a surety of a similar amount, or an alternative cash bail of Ksh150, 000 pending hearing of the case.

The magistrate set March 18 as the mention date.