Trial of serial killer Phillip Onyacha pushed over missing DNA reports

The on-going trial of self-confessed serial killer Phillip Onyancha hit a snag on Thursday after the prosecution failed to produce crucial forensic reports on one of his alleged child victims.

A witness was summarily stood down for future recall and compulsion summons consequently issued against the chief government chemist, a Mr Waweru, requiring him to explain why no DNA report has been prepared although samples were forwarded for testing on June 9, 2010.

At the same time, Justice Nicholas Ombija also gave the prosecution two weeks to present the findings of a radiography of the alleged victim's skull to determine the age, saying they form critical links that would help determine the case.

The court on Thursday was also shown a two-and-a-half-hour video depicting Mr Onyancha’s sensational confessions of his killing spree in which he admits before a panel of detectives that he stalked and slain nine people in Nairobi, four in Naivasha, one in Nakuru, two in Thika and another in Nyeri before he was arrested.

The victims were mainly women and children.

On Thursday, controversy arose over the identity of a child he is accused of killing in Ng’ando Village in the city’s Dagoretti area on April 14, 2010.

STUMBLED ON SKELETON

Defence lawyers claimed the skeleton of the alleged victim was stumbled on while Mr Onyancha was leading detectives in a separate search for the bodies of two women he had confessed to killing.

Dr Donna Nyamunga, who was stood down, said it was difficult to ascertain a parental linkage with the skeleton as no DNA report was presented at the time of the autopsy and the details concerning the recovery were missing in an original post-mortem report.

She also said the child’s age may have been between 7 to 12 years and that only a forensic scan of the recovered skull would indicate its age.

“There were no injuries on the skeleton to demonstrate cause of death...it was devoid of body tissues, the process of slogging and dropping off of flesh having set in,” the doctor said.

She said crucial evidence may have been lost at the scene as pathologists did not accompany police during the time the remains were found.

“The child's parents only identified the recovered skeleton and his clothes but would not prove that the child was theirs, clothes alone may not stand the strength of evidence,” Mr Jaso Ambani, for Onyancha, submitted.

DNA REPORTS

The lawyer said that in the absence of the DNA reports, it would be impossible to ascertain that the recovered remains were that of the missing child, who was believed to have been abducted and killed.

“The police only stumbled upon the skeleton as Onyancha led the search for two other missing women,” Mr Ambani said.

Justice Ombija said it was crucial that the radiography and the DNA tests be conducted and presented in court on November 6 before the case is concluded.

In the case, Mr Onyancha is charged with murder alongside Mr Tobias Nyabuhanga Arad and Douglas Obiero Makori. They were on Thursday ordered remanded in custody till proceedings resume next month.