Man who killed lover's son to avenge HIV infection found guilty of murder

The High Court has found guilty of murder a casual labourer who killed his lover’s child to avenge the theft of Sh2,000 and infection with HIV.

Justice Christine Meoli found that the accused, Moses Kamau, schemed to ensure that his lover was not around before taking her son away and stabbing him to death.

The court heard that Mr Kamau first reported his lover, named EW to protect her identity, to the police in Engineer, Nyandarua County, for allegedly stealing his money.

He then lured the boy named KSW from a place he was playing with his friends using sweets, took him to a river and stabbed him 13 times in the chest.

The accused and EW were involved in a rocky love relationship, the court heard.

He described her as a thief, a drunkard and promiscuous.

At noon on October 17, 2015, the boy's grandmother went to the police station to honour summons following a complaint that her daughter (the accused's lover) had stolen Sh2,000.

She left her four-year-old grandson playing with his friends near the family home.

The accused did not turn up at the police station; instead he was luring his lover's son to his death.

The court heard that Kamau approached the playing children and asked the child and another boy to follow him so they could get sweets and later hunt rabbits.

The two boys obliged. But instead of going to a shop, they headed towards a river called Karoroha, where the accused ordered the boy’s friend to go back home as he was not a hunter.

By nightfall, the boy had not returned home, prompting his mother to look for him. She also reported the matter to the police.

At 7pm the same day, Simon Ng’ang’a, a resident of Engineer, reported to the police that he had discovered a child’s body on his farm by the river, 1km from the town.

Child's DNA

A knife was found at the scene and tests on the bloodstains showed a match with the child’s DNA.

The children said the accused was the last person to be seen with the boy.

In his testimony in court, Kamau told the judge that EW was his lover although the two lived separately.

He added that she was unfaithful and often stole money from him to support her excessive drinking habit.

On the day of the killing, he told the court, she had stolen Sh2,000, which he reported to the authorities, and also discovered that he was HIV-positive.

HIV test

The judge heard that he left for Kipipiri to tell his family about his HIV test results but was later arrested.

Justice Meoli said the man was out to avenge his bitterness.

“The accused’s description of EW as a thief, an unfaithful and almost alcoholic person shows the level of personal animus he bore against the witness. It seems also from account the affair between the two was tumultuous,” ruled the judge.

She also found that his escape to Kipiriri was out of guilt and not about his status.

“Having made the report, he also took a test which indicated that he was HIV positive. Obviously, if the theft of his money made him unhappy, the latter news if true should have made him a bitter man. The accused’s failure to attend the police station while being a complainant gave him opportunity, with EW absent, to take her son away. He executed a well-hatched plot, to lure the son to the where he killed him,” the judge found.