- The judge noted that although Kinuthia had claimed that they had an intimate relationship there was evidence of the same.
- The family of the deceased and the prosecution have demanded a maximum sentence for murder against Kinuthia.
Image: FILE
The high court in Eldoret found Naftali Kinuthia guilty of murdering Moi University medical student Ivy Wangeci four years ago.
Justice Reuben Githinji ruled that the prosecution had proved the offence of murder and the accused stands convicted.
The judge trashed Kinuthia's defence in which the accused claimed he was provoked after Ivy ended their love relationship and went for another man.
The judge noted that although Kinuthia had claimed that they had an intimate relationship there was evidence of the same.
"Even text messages reviewed did not prove evidence of an intimate relationship and the the accused did not also prove a sexual relationship with the deceased," Githinji said.
He noted that the accused used a lethal weapon- an axe and hit the deceased several leaving her with no chance of survival.
"If he did not want to kill her he would have used bare fists on her and not the axe," Githinji said.
The judge noted that claims of provocation by Kinuthia were not true.
Kinuthia followed the proceedings virtually from the Eldoret GK prison as the judge delivered it virtually from Malindi where he is currently stationed.
The family of the deceased and the prosecution have demanded a maximum sentence for murder against Kinuthia.
The judge set November 22 for mitigation and sentencing against Kinuthia.
Family lawyer Kiroko Ndegwa asked the court to punish Kinuthia harshly for his actions. He noted that the accused never apologised for the offence.
"Your honour the court should mete out the highest possible sentence in the land. An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth," he said.
Prosecutor Norah Limo told the judge that the accused deserved the maximum penalty for the offence of murder.
"She was an upcoming doctor she was about to graduate but lost her life. We ask the court to issue the maximum sentence of death," Limo said.
However, defence lawyers led by Wokabi Mathenge asked the court for a typed judgement to facilitate an appeal against Githinjis's judgement.
While reading the 45 minutes judgement the judge was twice forced to stop due to sounds of prayers from a nearby mosque.
The judgement also aroused emotions as lawyers representing Wangeci's family were seen wiping tears.
Githinji noted that although the accused had claimed that the axe he used had been in his car for security reasons that was not the case.
He noted that the axe appeared new and sharpened which proved aforethought malice on the side of the accused in ending Ivy’s life.
The judge noted that the axe had a metal handle, was new and sharpened using a grinder.
"I saw the axe in court and it's the kind used in rural areas to split firewood and trees. It's not like the one reasonable people carry for security," Githinji said.
The judge also noted that the accused also had a knife with him which he claimed to have been given by someone at the scene of the crime.
"It's laughable when the accused alleges the knife was handed to him by a member of the public. Who would have wanted to lose his life for no purpose? His allegation is not true," the judge said.
Earlier he read out the background of the case and evidence from witnesses including friends of Ivy.
One of the witnesses, a close friend of Ivy narrated how the relationship between the two had gone sour.
She had informed Ivy that their relationship was getting worse but the deceased at some point played down the warning.
The witnesses told the court that some of the messages sent to Ivy amounted to threats.
Kinuthia had also told the court that he spent more than Sh200,000 on Ivy but he was bitter that she always ignored her.
Kinuthia aged 33 years had in his defence confessed to killing Wangechi because the love relationship had gone sour.
His mother Nancy Kinuthia was at the high court in Eldoret for the judgement and later followed her son to the Eldoret GK Prison.
Wangechi was hacked to death outside the Moi Referral Hospital in Eldoret on April 9, 2019.
Naftali had earlier narrated how the incident happened when he gave his final defence evidence in the murder case.
Kinuthia said he had travelled to Eldoret on the material day to personally wish Ivy a happy birthday even though their relationship was estranged and that she had blocked his phone for some time making it impossible for him to reach her.
He says he tried severally to reconcile their differences and communicated to her through a friend identified as Mary Ann Chepkoech.
He had asked Chepkoech to convince Ivy that they meet and talk out but it did materialise.
Earlier he said Ivy had informed her about the birthday and that she needed Sh28,000 to host a party.
She requested him to help her with the cash and Kinuthia sent her Sh14,000 promising to deliver the balance on April 10th which was her birthday.
He travelled to Eldoret in his car and went to the medical school where he packed his car and decided to locate Ivy physically.
“I wanted to wish her happy birthday and also inform her that I would not attend the party because I was to travel back to Nairobi immediately for work.
"I also wanted to deliver the balance for the party personally," Kinuthia said.
While near the hostels she saw Ivy and went to meet her. Ivy was surprised to see him and immediately informed him that her new boyfriend would take care of the cost of the birthday party.
He said it became apparent that she had ignored him and wanted nothing to do with him
“In my mind, I felt like a loser and hopeless because of what she said. I became angry and felt bad that the connection we had since 1998 had suddenly come to an end,” he said.
At that point, I went back to my car and decided would never talk to her again.
As he was getting into the car he looked back and saw her hugging and holding hands with a male friend around 50 meters away.
He had never seen the man she was hugging but later came to know he was Andrew Macharia
“At that point, I lost control and was too angry because of what was happening before me. I wasn't myself again and can't tell how I decided to pick the axe and attack her," he said.
He said the axe had been in his car for over a year and he had bought it for his own security because of working at night many times.