How killer warder tried to hide behind prison escapee story
An illustration of a man in prison. Patrick Lesadala, a former prison warder, was sentenced to death for the murder of his girlfriend. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- When Lesadala returned to Kamiti, he bragged to colleagues that he had shot a woman and therefore accomplished his mission.
- But during trial, he said the other man killed Nthimba. However, the High Court sentenced Lesadala to death in 2013 after finding him guilty.
When Landry Sironga was jailed in August 2002 after pleading guilty to being a member of the outlawed Mungiki sect, his four-year sentence made world news with international media houses going big with the story.
What did not get as much media airtime as Sironga’s jailing was his escape. He escaped from Kamiti Maximum Prison on September 27, 2002.
His escape would three years later become part of a devious scheme that prison warder Patrick Lesadala coined to murder a woman in Nairobi’s Zimmerman.
Lesadala had been dating Dianah Nthimba for one year, but the couple’s relationship was rocky. Nthimba had confided in one of her in-laws, who was also a neighbour, that things were not well between her and Lesadala.
On April 2, 2005, Lesadala went to Nthimba’s home but she was not there. Her son, then 12 years old, was at home, and the two spent the night.
BOGUS MANHUNT
The following morning, Lesadala gave his girlfriend’s son Sh50 for breakfast then left for Kamiti Maximum Prison.
At Kamiti, Lesadala went to the armoury where he found a colleague — James Kipkoech — guarding the weapons.
Lesadala requested for a firearm and 10 rounds of ammunition, claiming he was on the hunt for the escaped Sironga, who was believed to be armed and dangerous.
His request failed to raise a red flag with the armoury personnel despite the fact that Lesadala was off-duty.
When a prisoner escapes, the prison authorities have 24 hours to locate him or her. After 24 hours, the search is handed over to the police through the commanding officer of the station closest to the prison.
CONFRONTATION
In court, another prison warder, John Rimberia, testified that Lesadala was never even in the list of officers tasked with the search for Sironga in 2002.
In fact, Kamiti records indicated that Lesadala was only assigned guard duties which were to commence upon his return to duty.
Immediately after being handed the loaded pistol, Lesadala went back to Nthimba’s home in Zimmerman.
He found his girlfriend washing clothes outside the house.
The former prison warder then confronted her, demanding to know where she had spent the previous night.
Her claim that she was at her uncle’s place in Dagoretti did not sit well with Lesadala who then accused her of being a prostitute.
The argument was not silent, and two neighbours heard the differing couple from their homes.
UNREMORSEFUL
Lesadala demanded that Nthimba call the uncle whose home she claimed to have slept in. The fight then moved to the bedroom, ending any further eavesdropping by neighbours and Nthimba’s son.
The boy then heard three gunshots and his mother screaming that she was being killed.
He ran out of the house, and heard two more gunshots. A few minutes later, he saw Lesadala leave the house. The boy then ran to his aunt.
Lesadala strolled back to Kamiti at around 8.30am where he bragged to colleagues that he had shot a woman and therefore accomplished his mission.
He went into a bar operated by John Zadock and repeated that he had killed a woman before brandishing the gun he had used.
Zadock placed the gun, live ammunition and spent cartridges in a polythene bag then called the prison deputy in charge, a Mr S S Mwangangi.
Accompanied by a group of prisons officers, Mwangangi visited the Zimmerman house where they found Nthimba’s body lying in a pool of blood.
INFIDELITY
Lesadala’s version of events was however different to what police corroborated from 17 witnesses.
He claimed he went to work after receiving a call from his superior, who revealed that there was an escaped prisoner in Githurai.
Lesadala added that he passed by Nthimba’s house and found her in bed with another man.
In his defence statement, Lesadala said the man said there was nothing the prison warder could do and a scuffle ensued.
The other man, the defence statement read, threw Lesadala to the ground and the pistol fell from the prison warder’s waist.
He said the other man picked up the gun and fired several shots before fleeing. Lesadala claimed to have given chase but the unidentified man managed to escape.
On returning to the house, a crowd wanted to lynch him so he ran back to Kamiti where police arrested him while drinking. The High Court sentenced Lesadala to death in 2013 after finding him guilty.
