Two suspects in magistrate’s daughter murder fail to take plea

Benson Kimathi Marangu (right) and Francis Otundo in court on October 2, 2018. The two will now take plea on November 2 at the Chuka Law Courts. [File, Standard]

Two people accused of the murder of a daughter of a magistrate failed to take plea for the second time after the High Court dismissed their medical report.

Justice Robert Limo said the mental assessment reports for Benson Kimathi Marangu, a former prison warder at Kangeta Prison, and Francis Otudo prepared at the Meru Teaching and Referral Hospital on October 4, 2018, were faulty.

“Going by the way this report has been written, I am unable to say certainly whom the medical report refers to. Is it the republic or the accused persons?” asked Mr Limo.

Although the report's title introduces the suspects, the body does not say who was subjected to the examination.

The prosecutor, Jane Maari, agreed that the medical reports were not clear and asked for two weeks to rectify them.

However, Limo said the case had taken too long to take off and the accused persons had a right to be heard as soon as possible. He also noted that the matter was of great public interest.

“In the view of the need of clarity, the court orders a comprehensive medical report rewritten in such a manner that it addresses the persons being examined by their names before plea can be taken,” he said.

The two will take plea on November 2.

Bond application

At the same time, the judge allowed Marangu’s lawyer, Elias Mutuma, to make a formal bond application to be heard on the same day.

The case was initially filed in Meru before Justice Alfred Mabeya but it was transferred to Chuka as nine-year-old Maribel Kapolon was the daughter of Carol Kemei, the magistrate heading the Githongo Law Courts, which are under the Meru High Court.

However, the accused did not take plea as scheduled on October 22 due to delay in transferring their file from Meru to Chuka.

Kapolon was kidnapped on September 6. Her body was found dumped in Gitoro Forest, Imenti North, 11 days later.

The kidnappers had demanded Sh500,000.

A postmortem showed the girl was hit on the head several times and that the injuries resulted in her death.