Former Citizen TV Journalist Jacqueline Maribe and her ex-boyfriend Joseph Irungu (alias Jowie) have a case to answer over the murder of Monica Kimani, the High Court in Nairobi has found.

Presiding judge  Grace Nzioka on Wednesday said the prosecution had established a prima facie case to warrant putting Jowie and Maribe on their defence which puts the ex-lovers at risk of getting the maximum death penalty should they fail to adequately defend themselves.

“I have had the benefit of going through the evidence and submissions and the court is satisfied that the prosecution has established a prima facie case to place each of the accused persons on their defence,” ruled Nzioka.

Following the latest development, Jowie and Maribe will now have an opportunity to bring their counter evidence and witnesses to prove their innocence over the murder of Ms Kimani before the judge determines whether to sentence them or not.

Lawyer Hassan Nandwa, who represented  Jowie,  told the court that his client will submit a sworn affidavit and call one witness while Maribe said she would call six witnesses in her defence later in May this year when the matter will be heard.

Ms Kimani was murdered on the night of September 19, 2018, at her Lamuria Gardens apartment in Kilimani, Nairobi County just hours after she returned from a business trip to South Sudan.

The prosecution’s position has been that that Jowie and Maribe had a common intention to murder the businesswoman after which they hatched an elaborate plan to cover up the killing before investigators caught up with them.

This comes after the last witness in the trial, Chief Investigating Officer Maxwell Otieno, in June 2022 placed Jowie – the first accused – at the scene of the crime in Lamuria Gardens on the night Monica is alleged to have been murdered.

The witness, who took the court through items collected during the investigations and submitted them as exhibits, told the court that Jowie and Maribe jointly murdered the 29-year-old Juba–based businesswoman in September 2018.

Officer Otieno said that through forensic analysis exhibited in call data, Jowie was captured leaving the scene of the murder at 2335 hours; this was confirmed by Jowie’s friend Jennings Orlando.

According to eyewitness accounts, Jowie was also the last known person to be with the deceased before her death.

The witness told the court that the two accused persons gave contradicting statements to investigating teams in relation to Jowie’s injuries at  Maribe’s house in Royal Park Estate.

The two claimed Jowie had been attacked by thugs but investigating officers proved that the injuries were self inflicted using a neighbour’s firearm.

The prosecution displayed items collected in the duration of the investigation and submitted them as exhibits.

Maribe was a tv star prior to Ms Kimani’s death and Jowie was at one time worked for a security contractor.

The court has scheduled the defence hearing for May 11 and 12, 2023.

By Wanja Waweru

Four persons were detained on Tuesday after they were discovered in possession of a cellphone belonged to the assassinated Daniel Musyoka, a member of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission.

The men were detained by police as suspects in the murder of Musyoka, whose body was found in Loitoktok, Kajiado on August 15, days after he had been abducted by unidentified individuals from the Embakasi region.

In the elections on August 9, he served as the returning officer for the Embakasi East constituency.

According to the police, the arrested suspects handled the deceased’s cellphone and formatted it before selling it to a gullible Kisii woman.

Three mobile phone repair technicians from the Central Business District are among the accused.

Before apprehending the other males who had touched the device, the detectives in charge of the case claimed they found the woman in Kisii and recovered the phone.

Three days after Musyoka went missing, on August 14, one of the suspects told authorities he found the phone on Mombasa Road.

He subsequently took it to the city center’s specialists for formatting and repairs.

By Judith Gicobi

20-year-old Catherine Mukoya Nalianya was found guilty of allegedly giving her employer’s five-month-old infant mucus and vaginal discharge.

Nalianya was criticized by Nairobi court Magistrate Festus Terer of the Children’s Court for acting inhumanely and animalistically.

According to Mr. Terer, the accused exposed the infant to dangerous, incurable infections.

Additionally, he stated that the child was innocent and was made to gulp and ingest harmful discharges.

“The accused herein is guilty of child abuse contrary to section 22 1 (a) of the Children’s Act,” ruled Mr Terer.

The infant used to be threatened and slapped by Nalianya when he hesitated to feed on the discharges, the prosecution told the court.

They want a severe prison sentence to serve as a deterrent to others who exhibit such vicious behavior.

“From the evidence tendered before this court, the prosecution has proven beyond reasonable doubt you abused the rights of the child,” ruled Mr Terer.

He rejected Nalianya’s justification that she had been set up.

She asked for mercy, stating that because she is the only provider for her family and has a three-year-old, a jail term would be detrimental to the toddler.

According to Mr. Terer, Nalianya warranted a prison sentence because the offense was so heinous.

She repotedly committed the crime in July 2022 in Fedha Estate, Nairobi.