The High Court in Kiambu has lauded the prosecution for proving a case in which a woman clobbered her husband to death, cleaned up the murder scene in Gatimu village of Lari sub-county before orchestrating the ‘discovery of the death’ in July 2012.
Justice Christine Meoli in her review of the entire evidence noted, “the court accepts the prosecution case that the deceased was stabbed and clobbered to death on the night of 26th and 27th by the accused who later dumped the bloodied items in the latrine in the compound and early the next day, the accused set to orchestrate events to exonerate herself by absenting herself ostensibly on a milk-buying errand to cover up the murder”
In the case, Mary Wambui Kamau denied she murdered Daniel Gikuru Kironji contrary to section 203 as read with section 204 of the penal code.
The court ruled that after committing the offence, the accused deliberately left her home early in the morning, leaving the door open and staying away long enough only to return and lure PW3 (prosecution witness three) to come to her house so that she would “discover” the body of the deceased in her house in the presence of the witness.
Upon completion of the prosecution case, Justice Meoli reckoned that the evidence on record does not allow any room for involvement in the murder of an intruder in the morning as the accused purported in her defense.
“Her defense is a sham and does not stand up to scrutiny. I am satisfied that the prosecution has proved its case against the accused person, beyond any reasonable doubt and will convict her as charged,” the judge observed.
Through seven witnesses, the prosecution presented the case as follows. The deceased (56) in 2012 lived together with the accused in the village in the same compound as his parents but occupied a distinct portion of the home where he had constructed a single-storey house.
The deceased was allegedly diabetic and had a wife who resided in the U.S. That he and the accused cohabited as man and wife for some years in the deceased’s building which consisted of five flats. On the ground floor were three units which were occupied by tenants.
The court heard that in the first floor were two units separated by a hallway between them and occupied by the couple and a third tenant respectively.
Upon stating what she has seen, the accused started to scream, attracting neighbours including area Chief Peter Njuguna Kariuki who testified as PW4. He called police, then DCIO Lari arrived and conducted enquiries. Investigations begun and the team decided to demolish the external pit latrines which were used by the occupants of the plot.
Inside the pit, police retrieved two pillowcases and a white t-shirt which appeared blood-stained and were identified by witnesses as belonging to the accused.
She was then arrested from the home of a neighbour who had sheltered her from an irate crowd who were baying for her blood after accusing her of killing her husband.
A post-mortem examination on the deceased’s body was carried out by Dr. Joseph Ndunguwhich unveiled multiple skull fractures on the left temporal region of the head, multiple brain lacerations and a stab wound and bruises to the head.
The cause of death according to the pathologist’s opinion was severe head injury secondary to blunt and sharp object trauma.
Upon being placed on her defense, the accused elected to make a sworn statement but did not call any witness. She told the court that she was a lab technologist by profession and had previously worked at the University of Nairobi.
She denied any involvement in the death of her husband asserting it was a mystery that she could not explain. That they had a good relationship and had never disagreed during their marriage.
She further told court that when she went to buy milk, she found someone had moved her basin and when she enquired she did not get any feedback and that when she went to her house, she saw fresh bloodstains on the floor of the sitting room and proceeding to the bedroom, she saw a pool of blood.
Justice Meoli has ordered the probation to furnish the court with a pre-sentence report before she sentences the accused who has remained in custody during the hearing of the case. The case will be mentioned on May 5, 2020.
Here is the full citation of the case: Republic vs Mary Wambui Kamau
