Keep murder accused in isolation, court told

A psychiatrist has advised that self-confessed serial killer Philip Onyancha be detained in seclusion for the rest of his life.

Dr Fredrick Richard Owiti, who examined Mr Onyancha, told the court the accused is “unpredictable” and requires medical treatment in a maximum security facility.

The doctor said pornography and early exposure to sexual activity when a maid molested him contributed to his mental problem. “He now suffers from a mental illness characterised by hallucinatory experiences,” Dr Owiti said, adding, he had sexually molested young boys.

He has also raped and killed women and licked their blood. “He remembers chronologically how his badness began,” Dr Owiti said.

He was testifying in a case in which Mr Onyancha, Mr Tobias Nyabuhanga Arad and Mr Douglas Obiero Makori are accused of murdering a seven-year-old boy abducted at a playground on April 14, 2010 in Dagoretti, Nairobi County.

SEDUCING WOMEN

“He made serious revelations of killing 17 people, mainly unsuspecting women in Naivasha and the young boy,” Dr Owiti said, adding, the accused should be investigated thoroughly.

“He was a stalker who perfected his prowess in seducing women. He would revisit the scene of sexual activity and killing to confirm the deaths and showed no remorse at the time I examined him.”

Mr Onyancha’s accounts of offences were difficult to follow. “He admitted to hearing voices commanding him to commit the crimes. Delusions were not elicited but he had command hallucinations.”

The doctor believes the offence Mr Onyancha is charged with is due to mental illness, but prosecutor Moses O’mirera wants to know if a mentally ill person can kidnap and demand ransom.

Dr Owiti said Mr Onyancha’s illness influenced his behaviour.