Josephat Mwenda's widow Rebecca was on Friday overcome with emotions following the sentencing of former police officer Fredrick Leliman and his co-accused.
Leliman, the mastermind in Mwenda's murder and that of lawyer Willie Kimani and taxi driver Joseph Muiruri was handed the death sentence.
While speaking to the press outside the Milimani Law Courts, Rebecca could not hold her nerve long enough to give her reactions to the judgment.
Her knees went weak just as she muttered the name of her late husband but family and members of the press held her up as she collapsed.
While passing the sentence, Justice Jessie Lessit said by virtue of her status as a police officer, Leliman was under oath to safeguard life but he acted to the contrary and took life.
"The murder was meant to interfere with the course of justice. They went through fear torture and excruciating pain as they waited for their turn to be killed," Lessit said.
Leliman's co-accused Stephen Cheburet was handed 30 years in jail, Sylvia Wanjiku 24 years while police informer Peter Ngugi got 20 years.
In sentencing Ngugi to the least jail term, Lessit said the court considered that his confession helped police prove their case against the other convicts.