How man escaped hangman’s noose

Murage Kabethi, a suspected robber, allegedly had his hand chopped off during a robbery at Micha village in Nyeri, but the prosecution failed to link him with blood samples collected at the scene of crime despite conducting a DNA analysis twice.
Kabethi was arrested as a prime suspect in the murder of Paul Maina Njogu who was shot dead in a robbery on May 3, 2003, at his home.
Mr Njogu was the husband of Inspector of Police Phylis Ndunge.
Kabethi was charged in court and subsequently handed a death sentence by Chief Magistrate Reuben Nyakundi.

EVIDENCE
But two High Court judges quashed the sentence and conviction after finding that the prosecution had bungled the case by failing to provide corroborating evidence on DNA analysis of the deceased and that of Kabethi.
Police obtained blood samples from Kabethi twice. They misplaced the first sample but were allowed by the court to draw another one despite Kabethi’s resistance.
Though Kabethi’s hand was allegedly chopped off at Njogu’s house and blood samples collected, judges James Wakiaga and Joseph Sergon said there was no credible evidence to place the suspect at the scene of crime.
“The evidence by police constable Thomas Muriuki clearly shows that both the deceased and the suspect shed blood at the scene of crime. The only evidence which placed the appellant at the scene of crime is the blood stains allegedly collected from the scene of crime, which is said to match with that of the appellant,” said the judges.

GUNSHOTS
But they added that the prosecution failed to summon the officer who collected the blood samples from the scene as a witness.
Kabethi was charged with robbing Mr Njogu and his wife of Sh15,000, a mobile phone, a bunch of keys and personal documents while armed with a pistol.
The trial court heard that he committed the offence together with others using actual violence and shot dead Mr Njogu. He also threatened to use violence against Ms Ndunge.
On the fateful night at about 2am, Ms Ndunge said she heard a bang and, shortly after, she heard people who had surrounded the house claiming to be police officers demanding that the door be opened.
Gunshots rang out and her husband told her that he had been shot.
Mr Njogu is said to have picked up a panga, confronted the gangsters and managed to slash one of the attackers in the ensuing struggle.

ANALYSIS
Mr Njogu severed the hand of one of the robbers, suspected to be Kabethi, the court heard.
Kabethi was arrested at Samaria Bar and handed over to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations officers.
Police Constable Muriuki, in his evidence, told the court that detectives visited the scene of crime and took samples of blood, which was spilt.
Kabethi’s blood was also drawn for analysis and comparison since there was evidence the deceased had assaulted one of his attackers with a panga.
Mr John Kimani Mungai, a government analyst, said on receipt of Kabethi’s blood samples, he analysed and compared with the samples collected from the scene. He came to the conclusion that the two blood samples matched. The magistrate handed down the death sentence on the watertight evidence produced by the analyst.

AMPUTATION
When placed on his defence, Kabethi denied the charges and dismissed claims that his hand was severed by the deceased during the robbery.
He claimed that on August 8, 2003, he was stung by a spider, and his hand swelled, leading to an amputation at Menengai Hospital.
His lawyer Wahome Gikonyo told the High Court judges that the prosecution mishandled its own case by failing to summon two crucial witnesses; one who prepared the exhibit memo and the person who collected the blood samples at the scene of crime.
The advocate also stated that the inventory of blood stains collected at the scene was not produced before the trial court.
“It was necessary to compare the blood of the deceased and that of the appellant in order to reach a conclusive decision to link the appellant with the offence,” said Mr Gikonyo.

CHARGE SHEET
He added that the exhibit memo talked of the blood samples collected at Skuta estate while the charge sheet stated the crime happened at Micha village.
“Those two places are different,” stated the lawyer while pointing out the holes in the prosecution case.
While acquitting Kabethi, the judges said analysis of the blood samples was crucial to clear doubt.
They concurred with the lawyer that the witnesses who were not called would have confirmed where the blood samples were collected from.
“Even if such a witness had been summoned and he truly confirmed that the blood stains were collected from the scene of crime, there was need to establish the blood group of the deceased and compare with that of the appellant to disprove the appellant’s defence,” said the judges while setting Kabethi free.