Court adjourns murder case against Phillip Onyancha

Self-confessed serial killer Phillip Onyancha appears before a Nairobi on April 14, 2010 to face charges of murder of a seven-year-old boy at Ngando Village in Dagoretti.

What you need to know:

  • An investigator who handled the bizarre case was said to be on a “special assignment” in northeastern Kenya.

  • His co-investigator Samuel Mureithi, who had taken to the witness stand, was stood down before he testified after it emerged that Mr Onyancha's defence team had not received copies of his statements.

  • Defence lawyers said it would be prejudicial to subject the suspect to proceedings entailing statements he had not had a chance to peruse.

The trial of self-confessed serial killer Phillip Onyancha was shelved on Thursday until April following a hitch in the prosecution.

An investigator who handled the bizarre case was said to be on a “special assignment” in northeastern Kenya.

His co-investigator, Samuel Mureithi, who had taken to the witness stand, was not allowed to testify after it emerged that Mr Onyancha's defence team had not received copies of his statements.

Defence lawyers said it would be prejudicial to subject the suspect to proceedings involving statements he had not had a chance to peruse.

Before he was arrested and charged with the murder of a nine-year-old boy in Lenana and a woman in Karen, Nairobi, the accused made a shocking confession to having killed 17 people.

The confession video has since been played and admitted as an exhibit in the trial.

On Thursday, the court allowed an adjournment after it became apparent that the hearing would not proceed without the witness’s statements.

The case resumes on April 22.