Eldoret herder jailed 40 years for killing elderly employer

The High Court  of Kenya in Eldoret has sentenced a 36-year-old man to 40 years in prison for the murder of his employer.

Justice Reuben Nyakundi found Silas Sang guilty of killing 72-year-old Hellen Biwott at her home in Kabenes, Moiben, Uasin Gishu County, on April 22, 2022.

The deceased was a small-scale dairy and maize farmer who had employed Sang as a herder.

In his judgment, Justice Nyakundi said the prosecution had proved its  case beyond reasonable doubt.

“Get it right, the court has found you guilty of causing the death of Hellen Biwott based on testimonies by key witnesses fronted by the prosecution and also, according to your argument, nobody has planted words; the real fact is that you committed the offence,” the judge said.

Nyakundi noted that the accused deserved a life sentence due to the gravity of the crime but opted for a 40-year jail term.

“I don’t understand how a course should be introduced in this case. From what I have gathered, I would have sentenced you for life, but I now sentence you for a period of 40 years in prison. I think the ruling is fair for you. Have you spent time in prison? You will learn goodness if you are a free man,” he ruled.

In mitigation, Sang told the court he was driven to commit the crime by a longstanding family curse from Nandi County.

“I don’t have anything to say, Your lordship. In my family, we have a history of curses where my father killed a child in Narok County and was sent to jail; he died while serving his sentence, and just see what’s happening to me, it’s unfortunate indeed. Have mercy on me,” he pleaded.

The same curse, he said, had followed him, as he broke down in tears and asked the court for leniency, expressing remorse.

Court documents indicate that Sang smashed the victim’s head against a wall before stabbing her in the neck with a kitchen knife.

He later fled the scene and boarded a matatu to Kakamega County, where he was arrested.