A former student of the United States International University-Africa (USIU-Africa), Duncan Livingstone Kimathi, has been sentenced to death for the murder of his fellow student, Sarah Akello Aruwa, in a case involving abduction and a KSh 100,000 ransom demand.
Justice Kanyi Kimondo handed down the sentence after finding the 37-year-old guilty of murdering Akello between June 30 and July 1, 2012, in the Kiamako area of Githunguri, Kiambu County.
The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) said the conviction followed a trial in which the prosecution, led by Millicent Kigira, called 17 witnesses to present evidence linking Kimathi to the crime.
The court heard that Akello, a final-year International Relations student at USIU-Africa, disappeared after telling a friend that she was going to meet a man she had previously encountered at the university library.
Evidence presented during the trial showed that she was lured into a trap before being abducted. Her captors later contacted her family and demanded KSh 100,000 for her release.
Akello’s mother, Hellen Atieno Aruwa, told the court that a man called her using her daughter’s mobile phone and demanded the money. She negotiated the ransom down to KSh 70,000 before reporting the matter to Kasarani Police Station.
The deceased’s boyfriend also testified that he tried calling her phone but was answered by a man who demanded that KSh 100,000 be sent to Akello’s mobile money account.
The court further heard that Akello had written in her notebook that she planned to meet a person identified as Daniel Muriithi. She had also recorded his telephone contact.
However, the court established that Kimathi did not know Muriithi and found that the name had been used as part of the plan to lure Akello.
Investigations later led to the recovery of Akello’s bra, panties and a blood-stained top from a house in Savannah where Kimathi’s girlfriend, Wairimu, lived.
The case also involved a second accused person who absconded after being released on bail. The court directed that the trial proceed in her absence.
A postmortem examination revealed that Akello had suffered a cut at the back of her head and bruises on her neck. The examination established that she died from compression of the neck through manual strangulation.
In his judgment, Justice Kimondo found that Kimathi had acted with malice aforethought, noting that Akello had been deliberately lured and abducted before being killed.
The judge consequently convicted Kimathi of murder under Section 203, read together with Section 204 of the Penal Code, and sentenced him to death.
The case brings to a close a trial over a killing that occurred in 2012, involving the abduction of a university student and an attempt to obtain money from her family in exchange for her release.
