Woman found guilty of killing husband

The High Court in Eldoret has found a 32-year-old woman guilty of the brutal murder of her husband who was a newspaper vendor in Eldoret town.

The court ruled that Melisa Muhinda killed Geoffrey Matenje, six years ago at Kamukunji estate in the outskirts of Eldoret town, Uasin Gishu county.

The mother of two was found guilty of murder alongside her co-accused, Ekitui Amatuka, a boda boda operator.

While delivering the judgment, Justice Reuben Nyakundi said the prosecution had proved beyond reasonable doubt that the duo were involved in the murder of the newspaper vendor who operated outside the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTRH) in Eldoret.

“Overwhelming evidence by the prosecution witnesses including the mobile phone you were using on the material day places you at the scene of crime,” said Justice Nyakundi.

Matenje, 35, was murdered in his house on October 6, 2018, under circumstances that raised suspicion among neighbours, friends and relatives.

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His widow and the motorcycle rider were arrested and charged with murder after DCI detectives found evidence implicating them in the heinous act.

The duo believed to have been lovers, were nabbed while ferrying Matenje's body parts in a sack.

The deceased was hacked several times on the head, neck and legs before his body was dismembered and stashed in a gunny bag.

The court heard that Muhinda with the help of her co-accused loaded the mutilated body parts onto a motorcycle that was intercepted by neighbours less than 500 metres from the deceased’s house while being transported to an unknown destination for dumping.

It was further established that the widow conspired with the motorcycle rider to kill her estranged husband.

Nelson Wasamba, one of the state witnesses, said he heard dogs barking in the neighborhood while the suspect was wailing.

“The accused started wailing that her husband had been killed. We rushed to her house and demanded to be shown the body but we couldn’t see it in the house. That is when we discovered that the body was dumped on the road near the house,” said Wasamba.

A postmortem revealed that Matenje died of severe internal bleeding caused by a head injury. The report further indicated that he had multiple injuries on his abdomen.

Justice Nyakundi ordered that the accused be remanded at the Eldoret GK prison until June 3 for sentencing.