She stabbed her husband to death over a SIM card

Neighbours peep through the window of a house where a man killed his fiancee and two children before commiting suicide. [PHOTO: FILE/STANDARD]

By Joe Kiarie

Nairobi, Kenya: Just over three weeks ago, Susan Wanjiru, 24, was driven into Langata Women’s Prison to serve a four-year jail term.

She had by then already served two years in remand prison as her trial proceeded at the High Court in Nairobi. Her crime? Wanjiru stabbed her husband, Stanley Nduati, to death in a fight over a phone sim card.

In a murder that mirrors many others reported across the country in recent months, the young lady reacted impulsively to provocation, only to realise the magnitude of her action and express remorse after a tragic ending.

So, what exactly transpired on the fateful night of February 24, 2012? Mary Ng’endo, a prosecution witness who was a next-door neighbour to the couple in their rented a house at Mutirithia area of Mwiki Township, Nairobi County, described a dramatic murder that shook an entire neighbourhood.

She stated that she was at home with her husband and two sisters when they heard their neighbour screaming at around 11 p.m.

Ngendo told court that her husband got up, stood by the door and despite chilling persistent screams, kept her from stepping out since the fight involved a couple.

“I walked out when the fighting intensified and saw Nduati trying to pull Wanjiru outside the house. Susan fell onto a basin full of water and I got hold of Nduati on his left shoulder and told him not to fight again. He never answered me. He fell down next to where I was standing. He tried to get up but he could not,” Ng’endo testified.

She says it is when she saw blood flowing from Nduati’s body that she raised alarm, prompting Wanjiru, who had sought refuge in a neighbour’s house, to come out pleading that she be helped to rush her husband to hospital.

Upon inquiry by the many onlookers, Wanjiru is said to have claimed Nduati was merely nose bleeding, before later alleging he had tumbled onto on something sharp as they fought.

Mary Muthoni, another neighbor, recalled asking Wanjiru why she was tying a leso around his chest if he was nose bleeding, only to see a wound after somebody removed the piece of clothing.

Pronounced dead

Ngendo’s husband instantly summoned a taxi that rushed Nduati to St Francis Community Hospital, Kasarani where 32-year-old Nduati was pronounced dead on arrival.

Wanjiru, was arrested the same night and charged with murder and denied the offence. “The truth of the matter is that I did not kill my husband. We have been staying peacefully since 2009,” she said.

But just before her trial commenced last November, she entered into a plea of guilty that saw her charge reduced to manslaughter. The court convicted her on her own guilty plea.

Before making a ruling last month, Judge Roseline Lagat Korir called for a probation report of the accused.

“Despite the provocation, we feel the offender over reacted leading to loss of life. We recommend a non-custodial sentence,” the officer recommended, albeit noting that the victim’s family was still hurting, and not ready for reconciliation. She was jailed for four years.