Joseph Irungu alias Jowie, is set to face sentencing Wednesday March 13 in connection with the murder of businesswoman Monica Nyawira Kimani in Nairobi.
The sentencing comes after a lengthy trial and recent postponements of the legal proceedings.
The sentencing was initially set for Friday, March 8 but was postponed due to various reasons, including the late submission of crucial documents and a change in Jowie’s legal representation.
Lady Justice Grace Nzioka pointed out that crucial documents expected to assist the court in reaching its final decision had been filed late.
Jowie’s lawyer told the court he would need one week to go through the pre-sentencing report and reply to it, a request that the court declined.
Justice Nzioka thus directed that the replies be filed by Tuesday March 12 for her to deliver the sentence the following day.
This is after he was found guilty of the murder in a ruling delivered by Nzioka on February 9, which brought the murder trial that began in 2018 to a close.
Nzioka ruled that the prosecution had adduced adequate evidence and proved beyond reasonable doubt that Jowie indeed killed Monica.
Former TV news anchor Jacque Maribe, who was charged alongside Jowie, was however acquitted of the murder charge, with the judge stating that the count of murder was not the proper charge that the prosecution would have preferred against her.
“Having considered the evidence in this matter it is the finding of this court that the prosecution has adduced adequate evidence and has met the threshold… It is the finding of this court that the first accused person murdered the deceased,” ruled Justice Nzioka.
“The first accused person stole the ID of Dominic Bisera two days before the commission of the offence, armed himself with a gun, carried a Kanzu, put it over his clothes, went to Lamuria gardens, disguised his identity, gained access to the apartment of the deceased, murdered the deceased, left the deceased’s house, changed his clothes and eventually went home and burnt the clothes which he wore during the commission of the offence.”
In Maribe’s case, the judge ruled that the evidence adduced by the prosecution against her did not place her in the house of the deceased on the fateful night therefore exonerating her from the charge.
“There was no evidence that she had ever communicated with the deceased. The evidence that the prosecution has brought before this court on the second accused person relates to events of September 20, 2018, and that is the shooting incident,” noted Justice Nzioka.
The judge however pointed out that Maribe had been found to have given contradicting information while recording her earlier statements on how Jowie sustained a gunshot wound, terming the offence as giving misleading information to a public servant.
She said it is upon the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) to decide on what action to take.
“The office of the DPP knows their mandate. The resolve is that the prosecution did not adduce adequate evidence for this court to find the second accused person of the offence of murder of Monica Nyawira Kimani on the night of 19th September 2018. The first accused person is convicted on the charge (murder) while the second accused person is acquitted of the charge,” concluded the judge.
On February 13, the ODPP however said it is appealing against a decision to acquit Maribe in the murder of Kimani.
The DPP in its notice of appeal said they are dissatisfied with the decision of trial Judge Grace Nzioka that acquitted Maribe in the murder case and they will appeal part of the judgment that set her free.
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