Court upholds death sentence for attacker who stole Sh40 bread, shoes

At 7.30pm, Dickson Werimo Muhinda decided to leave his vehicle at a nearby home and walk to his home as the road was muddy. He did not know that tragedy would strike shortly after.

As he walked through a sugar cane plantation to his home, a man he knew for more than 30 years emerged wielding a stick and a panga. His name was Joseph Amoye Oyano.

Oyano pounced on Muhinda, hitting him with the stick for more than 20 minutes as he screamed desperately for help.

Overpowered, Muhinda fell in a pool of mud and while down, his attacker ditched the stick for the panga, cutting him in the head.

The screaming by Muhinda attracted a crowd and the attacker fled.

Oyano did not flee empty-handed. He took a loaf of bread worth Sh40 that his victim had, car key, phone, Muhinda's shoes, a wallet containing job and ATM cards and Sh300 cash he had in his pocket.

The attacker was arrested after sometime and charged with robbery with violence.

He denied the charge, claiming that on the day of attack, he was with his wife at home.

The court convicted him and handed him a death sentence.

He unsuccessfully appealed the court decision at the High Court, with the judges upholding the conviction and sentence on March 23, 2017.

Unsatisfied, the man appealed the High Court's decision at the Court of Appeal. His grounds were that he was not properly identified and the sentence against him was excessively harsh.

But after hearing the appeal, the court found that the man was adequately identified because there was sufficient moonlight that evening. The court also found that he was known to his victim, having lived and grown up in the same village for more than 30 years.

“…we are satisfied that he was positively identified, his identification being one of recognition. We note that the complainant testified that he had known the appellant for more than 30 years, a claim which was uncontroverted,” the judgment given by the court on May 12, 2023 read.

"As properly found by the two trial courts, the fact that there was moonlight on the material night was corroborated by other prosecution witnesses."

The court upheld his conviction and death sentence.