Dreaded criminal loses appeal against death verdict

By Wahome Thuku

One of the most dreaded criminals in the country’s history has lost an appeal against his death sentence.

Timothy Irungu Ndegwa, who was sentenced in December 2002 for murder, had no chances of winning the appeal as evidence against him was overwhelming.

Irungu was the fourth member of the infamous gang that comprised Anthony Ngugi Kanari alias Wacucu, Gerald Wambugu Munyeria alias Wanugu and Benard Matheri alias Rasta. The other three were gunned down by police at different times in Kajiado, Nyahururu and Nakuru districts in 1990s.

They are believed to have presided over high profile murders and robberies. Irungu was convicted for the murder of army officer Geoffrey Baariu Luruti on November 13, 1995. Col Luruti, 43, was shot outside his house in Kahawa Sukari Estate in Nairobi as he arrived home at midnight.

The murder had been plotted by the four at a bar in Nairobi three days earlier. The body with 12 bullet wounds was dumped outside the house and his car driven away and abandoned on Thika-Nairobi highway.

Zipporah Wangeci Mwangi, who witnessed the planning, execution and the killing, narrated details of the grisly murder in court in 1999.

Wangeci, who was in the company of the gang, gave a blow-by-blow account of how the officer was tracked down, intercepted outside the house and shot at close range.

Not corroborated

Irungu had denied knowledge of the other three gangsters. His lawyer had faulted the High Court judge for not treating Wangeci as an accomplice, saying her evidence was not corroborated.

But so graphic and precise were the details of the murder that even the three Court of Appeal judges Riaga Omolo, Philip Waki and Joseph Nyamu had little difficulty believing her evidence. Dismissing the appeal, Justice Omolo said yesterday that if the woman had made up the story, she could only have been a good fiction writer.