A woman who slashed her husband to death and dumped his body parts in Nairobi River will spend the rest of her life in prison after her appeal was declined.
Damaris Mueni Musau was convicted of murdering her husband, Raphael Matheka Nzembu, between December 19 and 24, 2014, in Buruburu.
Court of Appeal judges Martha Koome, Roselyn Nambuye and Sankale ole Kantai found no reason to interfere with the lower court's conviction of Musau.
“We find no merit in this appeal. It is hereby dismissed,” they ruled.
The particulars of the case were that Nzembu disappeared on the night of December 19, 2014, the same night that a neighbour heard screams from the upper floor of the building where the couple lived.
The witness had told the court that she could not tell whether the screams were from a woman or a man. However, she never saw the deceased thereafter.
The following day, street boys told an officer at Buruburu police station that they had seen what appeared to be human body parts stashed in two polythene bags at Kariobangi Bridge along the Nairobi River.
Police found the two polythene bags at the scene and on examining them, confirmed the contents to be parts of a human being.
Meanwhile, Musau and her daughter had on the same day sought accommodation from a friend, claiming that her husband had left for Mombasa without paying rent.
“She claimed their landlady had locked her out of the house. She stayed with the friend until her arrest on February 3, 2015,” the court was told.
Nzembu’s relatives identified the body parts from a mark on the left foot toe.
A pathologist told the court that the deceased was slashed on the head and forearms.
“The doctor formed the opinion that the death was due to sharp force trauma caused by multiple injuries,” according to court paper.
Musau, who denied the murder charge, had told the court that Nzembu arrived home on December 17 and informed her that he was going to Mombasa.
They parted ways, only for him never to return. She never contacted him, court papers said.
The court found no merit in her defence and sentenced her to life imprisonment.
She appealed against the sentence, accusing the trial judge of failing to appreciate that "no prudent investigations" were carried out by the police to identify the murderer.
Last week, the appellate court found no merit in the appeal and upheld the lower court's ruling.
- mwaniki fm
