'Stolen' phone earns man conviction for landlord’s murder

Her dismembered body was found on the floor of her bedroom by one of her tenants on the morning of June 11, 2013.

There was a power outage that fateful night and Ms Grace Leposo’s tenants went to her house to find out what might have been the cause.

MURDER

But when her locked door was forced open, the body of the 72-year-old widow was found lying beside her bed chopped into six pieces. The shocking incident took place at Siranga in Upper Matasia, Kajiado County, five years ago.

She had been decapitated; her upper limbs had been chopped off at the shoulders and her legs cut off at the hips. “A sharp object was used to perform this sickening act akin to a satanic ritual,” said High Court judge Stella Mutuku.

This was murder most foul, the judge observed as she delivered her verdict against two men charged with the horrendous act.

“Grace ought not to have died the way she did. Indeed, no human being should meet such a fate. It would even be termed by animal lovers as cruelty to an animal if one were to be killed in this manner,” said the judge.

She added: “Grace is a victim of a macabre murder committed by a very sick person or persons. Her murder can only be described as gruesome, horrific, horrendous and shocking.”

RULING

In her verdict delivered on January 25, the judge found Mr Wilson Mwangi Githinji guilty of murder but acquitted Mr Simon Ndambari for lack of evidence linking him to Ms Leposo’s death.

When the two men were charged on July 3, 2013, they both denied committing the offence. The prosecution lined up 16 witnesses.

Ms Leposo lived alone in her house a few metres from those of her eight tenants who were mostly casual workers in the area.

Her tenants and neighbours referred to her fondly as “cucu”, Kikuyu for grandmother. Her children were all grown up and were either married or had moved away to start their lives.

Evidence adduced in court showed that Mr Ndambari, the second suspect who was acquitted, was cohabiting with Mr Githinji’s mother Margaret Wanjiru who had rented one of Ms Leposo’s houses.

Mr Githinji lived away. But, according to the evidence in court, the situation changed some time before Ms Leposo was killed.

PHONE

The court heard that Mr Ndambari was found with a bag of maize which he had spread to dry outside and suspicious, Ms Leposo had sought to know where he got the maize from.

This resulted in a problematic relationship although it was not clear from the evidence whether this was the reason behind a notice to vacate Ms Leposo’s house.

The two lovebirds, however, did not move far away and instead rented a house nearby.

In the meantime, Mr Githinji used to visit his mother and would occasionally be given odd jobs by Ms Leposo, according to the prosecution witnesses.

After the murder, Mr Githinji was arrested 10 days later in Karatina, Nyeri County, and Ms Leposo’s mobile phone recovered from him.

EVIDENCE

“The recovery of the phone is the only credible evidence connecting Mr Githinji with this offence. This evidence brings into focus what is referred to as the ‘doctrine of recent possession’,” said Justice Mutuku.

She explained: “The essence of the doctrine is that when an accused person is found in possession of recently stolen property and is unable to offer any reasonable explanation how he came to be in possession of that property, a presumption of fact arises that he is either the thief or receiver.”

The judge said she had considered the evidence of Ms Leposo’s son, Mr David Ng’ang’a, who accompanied police officers from Ngong to Karatina.

She further said three other witnesses, who were police officers, were subjected to a detailed cross-examination and they maintained that Ms Leposo’s phone was recovered from Mr Githinji.

VERDICT

A suggestion by Mr Githinji’s lawyer that the phone was given to him by the widow as a present was rebutted by the prosecution. Mr Ng’ang’a told the trial court that his mother had only one phone and, therefore, could not have gifted Mr Githinji.

Mr Ndambari was let off the hook because a voluntary confession by Mr Githinji linking him to the murder could not be admitted in court as it was opposed by a lawyer as improperly procured.

Justice Mutuku said the evidence had satisfied the court that the phone was stolen in the course of Ms Leposo’s attack.

But the judge faulted the investigator, police constable Bernard Marete, saying he might have been blinded by the confession by Mr Githinji and failed to thoroughly follow up all the leads that would have implicated or exonerated Mr Ndambari.

“He may have participated in the murder but without tangible evidence to prove that he took part, this court cannot hold him to account,” she said.

However, the judge said the manner in which Ms Leposo was killed pointed to the involvement of more than one person.