A man who defiled a nine-year-old girl, murdered her and later hid her body under his bed for three days has been found guilty of murder.
High Court judge Dora Chepkwony in her judgment said that the prosecution had proven its case beyond reasonable doubt against Manfriend Odhiambo.
Chepkwony noted that seven out of the nine prosecution witnesses who testified during trial had all linked Odhiambo to the heinous crime.
“He was the last person to be seen with the deceased on the day he went missing. All the witnesses who testified in the matter tabled credible and sufficient evidence that the body of the minor was found in the accused person’s room beside the bed,” the judge said.
According to the judge, principal government chemist Lawrence George Ogunda who testified in the matter informed her court that human blood collected from the minor’s yellow dress and white shorts, and her inner pants matched DNA profile that was generated from the accused person.
Government pathologist attached at the Coast General Referral hospital Ngare Mbuko in his testimony to the court said that the minor had died as a result of strangulation.
“A report tabled before my court indicated that, the cause of the minor’s death was strangulation since she had bruises around her neck. The results further revealed that she was killed after sexual intercourse encounter since she had human semen around her vagina,” Justice Chepkwony said.
The judge further noted that though vaginal swab from the deceased did not match the suspect’s semen, this is a clear indication that the accused person murdered the deceased in the company of an accomplice who is still at large.
“Vaginal swab analysis tested positive for human semen. However, the male DNA profile did not match that of the accused; an indication that he had an accomplice,” she said.
Justice Chepkwony further added that the accused person had managed to escape from his rental house, a few hours after the neighbours had agreed to carry a door-to-door search in all the neighbours’ houses.
“As a neighbour, he all along knew that the minor’s body was lying between a wall and the bed in his house. He held prayers with the family, went to police to file a report on the minor’s missing, and joined in the search for the minor in the neighbourhood,” the judge said.
In his appeal for leniency, the suspect told the court that he is HIV positive who requires close medical attention. He also added that he is a father of two young children who need his care.
The court however sentenced him to a 25-year jail term.
