Man charged with woman’s murder

BY WAHOME THUKU

Kenya: A man who publicly confessed to have killed an elderly woman in Ngong, Kajiado County, two weeks ago was yesterday arraigned in court facing a murder charge.

Wilson Mwangi and co-accused Simon Ndambari Gatumu appeared before Nairobi Judge Roselyne Korir but were not required to respond to the charge since investigations are still ongoing.

The two are accused of killing Grace Njeri Lepaso on June 11, 2013 at her home in Ngong. The woman’s body was found in her house having been severed with a panga.

Mwangi featured on a local TV station on Monday, narrating how he killed the woman after ambushing her in her house.

He claimed to have entered the house through the roof and waylaid the woman. He narrated to reporters that he killed the woman shortly after she arrived home from church, following a dispute over stolen maize.

Yesterday, the charges were read out to the two accused but they were not required to plead as the police were still carrying out investigations. The court ordered that he be remanded at Ngong Police Station and be produced in court on July 3, to answer to the charge.

The judge also ordered that the two be provided with a Government lawyer for representation.

Meanwhile, the State yesterday dropped the murder charge against a medical doctor accused of killing the then acting Venezuelan Ambassador Olga Fonseca Gimenez.

The charge against Dr Mohamed Ahmed Mohamed was dropped from a list of five others and filed separately as he is still at large.

The High Court then renewed a warrant for his arrest. Other suspects charged with the murder include embassy officials Dwight Sagaray, Ahmed Mutivane Omido, Alex Sifuna Wanyonyi and Moses Kiprotich Kalya.

They are accused of having murdered the envoy on the night of July 26 at the residence of the Venezuelan Embassy in Runda Estate, Nairobi.

The case will now be heard on July 31, this year.