The prosecution has lined up 26 witnesses in the case facing Collins Pamba, the second accused in the murder of a woman and her two children.
Pamba, 21, who worked as a casual labourer at the Laikipia airbase, is charged with the murder of Joyce Syombua, 34, and her 10-year-old daughter Shanice Maua and son Prince Michael, 5, last October.
He is charged alongside KDF ex-major Peter Mugure who is the prime suspect in the three murders that took place in Laikipia county.
The two are charged with committing the offence on October 26, 2019 at Laikipia airbase in Nanyuki town.
They deny the charges.
Defense counsel Lucy Mwai and state prosecutor Mark Barasa, who was holding brief for senior assistant director of public prosecutions Peter Mailanyi, had requested for consecutive hearing dates.
But High Court judge Jairus Ngaah declined the request saying it would not be possible to call all the 26 witnesses even if the case was heard for seven consecutive days.
The prosecution told the court that it had served the defense with most of the witness statements and only three were remaining.
“The state has already served witness statements for 17 witnesses. However, we are yet to serve statements for three witnesses which we will be serving in due course together with the report from government analysts,” he said.
Barasa told the court the other six will be expert witnesses.
They are a medical doctor who will produce the postmortem report, a government analyst to give a chemical analysis report and scene of crime officers to produce photographs taken at the scene.
The others will be two officers from Safaricom who will produce mobile phone data and M-Pesa statements and officers from the military.
The prosecution also plans to summon a psychiatrist for a psychiatrist report. There will also be an extraction report from the DCI.
Barasa said this when the case came up for mention on Monday.
He said they have also forwarded the exhibit memo to the defense counsel of samples taken to the government analyst for analysis.
The defense lawyer, however, told the court there was a need to appear back in court to ensure the prosecution had complied with all the directives before taking a hearing date.
Judge Ngaah, however, said since the report from government chemist takes time, the court could proceed with those who will be ready.
The case was set for hearing on March 23 and will be mentioned on February 12.
