Witness recounts death of woman in suspected love triangle

Nyer High Court where a witness has recounted the death of a woman in a suspected love triangle.

The High Court in Nyeri Court was on Wednesday told how a woman died following a scuffle with her husband.

The accused had allegedly bumped onto her wife cheating with a neighbour in their house, the court further heard in a case where the accused has been charged with murder.

Testifying before Judge Abigail Mshila, Muthua-ini Assistant Chief, Paul Kang’atha said he received a distress call from a neighbour following what he was told was a commotion coming from the accused, Evans Chomba’s homestead.

He said he arrived at Chomba’s home at around 6AM where he found his wife, Nancy Muthoni, lying on the floor unconscious with blood oozing from the back of her head.

With the assistance of some neighbours, the Assistant Chief said they rushed the victim to Outspan Hospital, Nyeri, where she was admitted in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and died two days later.

He said after preliminary investigations, her husband and the alleged lover, a Mr. Githaiga, were arrested, but Githaiga was later set free after recording a statement with the police.

Chomba who is out on a bond of Sh.1 million is accused of murdering his wife on the night of October 6 and 7, 2017, at their Muthua-ini village home in Tetu constituency, Nyeri County.

He has so far denied committing the offence.

Chomba and his wife had allegedly spent the better part of the evening drinking before retiring home where they went to sleep in separate rooms.

He is said to have been woken up by strange sounds coming from the room where the wife was only to find them in a compromising position and a brawl ensued.

In his statement, Chomba stated that he accidentally hit his wife with a broom he was aiming at Githaiga when she tried to separate them as they engaged in a physical fight.

During cross-examination by the defense lawyer, THE  assistant Chief, however, said he found no such item at the scene.

His statement also contradicted with Githaiga’s account that Chomba pushed his wife against a wall where she slipped and fell on her back.

According to the Assistant Chief, the couple did not have any domestic issues and all seemed good.

“I have known Chomba and Nancy for a long time and in public, they were walking hand in hand and seemed very happy,” said the chief.

The hearing will proceed on June 27, when the doctor who carried out the postmortem examination will testify.