Man gets 200 years for killing his four children in Kisii

Lucas Misati, 40, during the ruling of his case where he was charged with killing his children. (PHOTO: DENIS OCHIENG'/ STANDARD)

A man who killed his four children has been handed a 200-year sentence by a Kisii court.

Lukas Misati, 40, was slapped with the lengthy prison term after pleading guilty to manslaughter.

Kisii resident judge Joseph Karanja on Monday ruled that Mr Misati will serve the sentence concurrently for 50 years for each of the four counts of murder he had been charged with.

He has 14 days to appeal the sentence that could see him spend the rest of his life in prison.

The case had been in court since 2013 when Misati was charged with killing his four children; Toto Misati, 3, Brian, 9, Ontoyo, 7 and Naom Mogutu 5.

He was said to have killed the children outside their rental houses in Egesa in Kitutu Chache Central, Kisii County on the night of November 10, 2012.

Justice Karanja sent the accused to prison after the State agreed to the charge of murder instead of the lesser charge of manslaughter.

Misati pleaded guilty to manslaughter charges, admitting that he committed the offence and agreed to the witnesses statements. Five witnesses testified against him.

Lucas Misati's wife, Hellen Kemunto .  (PHOTO: DENIS OCHIENG'/ STANDARD)

In her affidavit, the wife, Helen Kemunto, told the court that her husband had come home on the night of November 10, 2012 woke her up and said he wanted them to move house.

But she insisted they first clear the rent arrears before moving out, at which point Misati got furious and stabbed her in the forehead.

“I managed to escape and went to seek treatment at Kisii Level Five Hospital,” reads the sworn affidavit in part.

Missing children

She stayed at the hospital until the following morning when she went back to the house only to find all her children missing.

“I thought they had shifted to another house. My husband called our landlady and told her to inform me that I pick my children form the nearby bush. However, one of the children lay dead at the doorstep while the other three bodies were in the nearby nappier grass,” she said.

Police picked the bodies, and a postmortem was carried out on December 23, 2012 which revealed that the deaths were caused by strangulation.

 

After the incident, Misati went on the run but was arrested on November 21, 2013 one year after he had committed the heinous act.

A report by the investigating officer, Alfred Nasio, indicated that the accused had the intention to commit the offence after stabbing his wife and from the instruction he gave the land lady.

The officer had requested the court to try the suspect on four counts of murder. In a probation report produced in court, the accused was found to be unreliable, seemed calm but known to be dangerous.

No one in the family, including his mother, was willing to stand for surety for the suspect. After his arrest, he was remanded at the Kisii Main Remand prison.

After his sentencing, he recounted that everything happened too fast to be able to really tell what happened that night.

Lesser years

He plans to appeal the judgment in the next 14 days to have the number of years reduced.

“I didn’t kill my children. I know this is my fault but I wish that the court finds it noble to reduce the number of years in my sentence,” said Misati.

The Standard Eight drop out said he never stabbed the wife but she injured herself when they engaged in a scuffle a night before the incident.

The remains of the murdered children during the burial service in November 2012. (PHOTO: DENIS OCHIENG'/ STANDARD)

He said that he has never seen his wife since he was arrested. The wife is now married and has a baby.

Misati’s elder brother, Kennedy Osoro, said they expected lesser years in the sentence. “It is a shock to the family but we all respect the judgement made by the court,” he said.