The high court in Eldoret has found Naftali Kinuthia, the suspect in the murder of Moi University student Ivy Wangechi, guilty of killing her four years ago.
During a virtual court session, Justice Reuben Githinji ruled that the prosecution had proved beyond reasonable doubt the accused had planned to commit the crime.
The judge stated that Kinuthia’s actions were premeditated as he used an axe to kill Wangechi, leaving no chance of survival.
‘If he did not want to kill her, he would have used his fists and not the weapon,” the judge ordered.
In his defence, Kinuthia claimed that Wangechi had provoked him by leaving him for another man.
He added that he had emotionally and financially invested in Wangechi but his love and kindness were not reciprocated to his expectations.
Justice Githinji, however, stated that there was no evidence proving that they were in a sexual relationship.
“Even text messages reviewed did not prove evidence of an intimate relationship and the accused did not also prove a sexual relationship with the deceased,” the judge remarked.
During the court session, Wangechi’s family demanded that Kinuthia face the maximum sentence for their kin’s death.
Consequently, the judge adjourned the court session to November 22, 2023, for mitigation and sentencing.
Wangechi, a student who was pursuing medicine at Moi University, was hacked to death outside the institution on April 9, 2019.
Preliminary reports from police officers revealed that Kinuthia had requested to meet Wangechi out of class and hacked her to death before slitting her throat. He is reported to have left Nairobi for Eldoret, armed with an axe and a knife.
The accused at the time, had previously denied the murder allegations, but eventually confessed to the crime, stating that it was a crime of passion.
Source-https://www.kenyans.co.ke/
Naftali Kinuthia Found Guilty of Murdering Ivy Wangechi
