Joseph Irungu alias ‘Jowie’ has been found guilty of murdering businesswoman Monica Kimani in a Kilimani apartment in 2018, while his co-accused Journalist Jaque Maribe has been acquitted of murder charges.
“It is the finding of this court that all this evidence taken cumulatively leads to a strong conclusion that the first accused person murdered the deceased. And therefore, it is the finding of this court that the prosecution has proved beyond reasonable doubt of the offense of murder.”
“It was not a case of excusable homicide, it was unlawful. And threfore I find the first accused person guilty as charged herein of the offense of murder. That on the night of the 19th of September 2018 at an unknown time at Lamuria Gardens apartment he murdered Monica Nyawira Kimani,” Justice Grace Nzioka ruled.
While reading the long-awaited verdict at Milimani Law Court, Justice Nzioka gave details on why the court was convinced that Jowie killed Monica.
The court disclosed that the first accused person (Jowie) stole an identity card belonging to Dominic Bisera, wore a kanzu to cover himself, disguised himself as Bisera and used the stolen ID card to gain access into Monica’s apartment, killed her, changed his clothes, and burnt those he wore before.
On the other hand, the second accused person (Jaque Maribe) has been acquitted of murder charges.
“The evidence of prosecution against the second accused person did not place the second accused person in the house of the deceased on the material night. There was no evidence that she had ever communicated with the deceased.”
However, the court established that Maribe lied to the police, saying “lying to public service officers is against the law and attracts a 3-year jail term”.
Justice Nzioka was referring to the shooting incident where Jowie had claimed robbers shot him and that is what Maribe told the police but later Maribe changed the statement saying Jowie was shot at their house. However, Maribe did not object to the fact that she changed her statements, which might have seen her charged for providing false information to authorities but she was not.
However, the court stated that the Office of the Directorate of Public Prosecution (ODPP) is the entity mandated to look into the false information aspect of the case, if it sees fit.
Justice Nzioka added that the murder charge was not a proper charge against Maribe and that the prosecution had the murder case against her based on the shooting incident.
The judge directed Jowie to appear before the court for sentencing on March 8. The accused was also denied bond following the murder conviction and will be in custody until the sentencing date.
How was Monica Kimani killed?
Monica Kimani was found murdered in September 2018 in her apartment in Kilimani. Her body was found in a bathtub with her throat slit and her hands tied to the back.
In her verdict, Justice Nzioka said the postmortem showed Monica was killed using a sharp object and the killer was not an amateur.
“The murderer’s target was instant death. The photos are horrific and you wouldn’t look at them twice… Injuries were on the neck only, occasioned by a sharp object. The neck was slit from the front right to the back. It was like slaughtering a cow or goat.”
Justice Nzioka asked Kenyans to support the judiciary and allow courts to deal with cases, urging them to refrain from comments on social media. She also added that the court was at peace with the verdict.
The ruling on the murder case against Jowie and Maribe had been postponed three times before today.
Discussion about this post