By Wanja Waweru
A Meru court has convicted a former Administration Police officer who brutally murdered and defiled his sweetheart with a machete eight years ago to 45 years in prison.
According to Justice Edward Muriithi’s ruling, Kenneth Muthomi Mbaya’s horrific deed in Imenti Central’s Buurie King’ori neighborhood was motivated by his desire to kill Susan Kathambi Magaju.
On March 17, 2015, Kathambi’s naked body was discovered on her bed with obvious facial wounds and blood flowing from her privates.
A machete was discovered in her genitalia during the post-mortem by pathologists at the Meru Level Five Hospital, who concluded that it was the reason for her demise.
On March 14, 2015, the day she is believed to have died horribly, two witnesses stated that Muthomi was the last person to be seen with the body.
The two were seen by Mr. Samson Muriungi and his wife Janet Kanyiri attending a religious rally at Uuku market, they claimed in court, and they left to return home at 9 o’clock.
They said that as boyfriend and girlfriend, the two shared the deceased’s home.
The family became worried when they hadn’t seen Kathambi for three days, but the door to her residence was shut, according to Kathambi’s father, Mr. Magaju M’Itumarom the outside.
He gathered family members and when they opened the door, they made the gruesome discovery.
During the hearing, Cpl (Rtd) Tarcisio Kagunda, who investigated the murder, said they found Muthomi’s clothing and personal items like a medical card, receipt and a prescription note bearing his name.
The witness also tabled six gory pictures illustrating the injuries Kathambi suffered.
“When doing the postmortem a panga was recovered from the deceased’s private parts. I took it as an exhibit believing it to be the murder weapon… It was very traumatising to witness the panga being removed,” he recounted.
The officer claimed that because Muthomi fled the scene of the incident after it occurred and did not show up for the burial, he was classified as a suspect.
When he went to the community three months later without asking about Kathambi’s location, he was apprehended.
Eric Masila, the principal prosecutor, requested the court to impose a jail term, noting that the accused had fled the scene and that the offense he had committed was significant.
“The victim left two children who currently do not have a mother to cater for them. The accused was an employed Administration Police officer but lost his job for drunkenness…He deserves a custodial sentence, all circumstances considered,” appealed Mr Masila.
In mitigation, Muthomi said he was remorseful and had reconciled with the family of the victim and there was no acrimony between them.
“I pledge that I shall restart my life if the court grants me the opportunity. I will get married and go on with life,” he told the court.
The probation officer’s report said the accused, who is now a farmer, was taking prescription drugs and his health deteriorated further while in custody.
The report noted that the offender committed the offence when he was 31 years old while the deceased was 52 and they had lived together for two years.
The deceased is survived by two children who were grown up at the time the offence was committed and they were living in Chuka where she was initially married.
However, Justice Muriithi scoffed at Muthomi’s prayer for a non-custodial sentence so that he could remarry and ruled that he deserved a sentence that would help treat and mellow his vicious temperament.
“The court must deprecate the monstrous killing, for whatever justification, of the deceased by a person in the position of her boyfriend…” the judge ruled.
“If there ever were a textbook situation suitable for the imposition of the death sentence, it would be this incident of callous killing of a lover by penetration into her private parts with a panga in an act smacking with obvious disdain, hatred and inhuman treatment.”
“No person should have to suffer such indignity of death at the hands of a lover in such cruel and degrading assault,” declared the judge.
Justice Muriithi explained that the 45-year imprisonment would be reduced to 30 actual prison custody due to one-third remission under section 46 of the Prisons Act.
“At 40 years, a prison term of 30 years actual custody, so that the accused is released at 70 years of age when he can still usefully impart his penal lesson to others in the interest of deterrence, meets the justice of the case,” ruled the judge.