Cop acquitted of musician Chelele's murder

Administration Police officer Eric Musila on Friday was freed by a Naivasha court over the murder of his estranged wife, popular Kalenjin musician Diana Chemutai 'Chelele'.

But he's not out of jail: Last month Musila was found guilty of murdering Eldoret-based surveyor Eliud Kipchirchir in 2012 by shooting him in the head.

The Chelele trial had dragged on for three years.

Musila wept for joy. Chelele's family wept in pain and anger.

High Court Judge Richard Mwongo said the evidence was lacking and scolded the prosecution for shoddy work and "glaring gaps" in evidence.

“It's likely that the accused and [friend of the accused Anthony] Ngari conspired to murder the late Chelele but the prosecution failed to follow this line of investigation,” the judge said.

Musila, whose case was transferred from the High Court in Kericho, had denied killing Chelele on January 7, 2015, in Kapkwen, Bomet county.

The judge ruled that the prosecution had left many "glaring gaps"  in the evidence and investigation.

Mwongo said it would be wrong to convict the accused based on the adduced evidence.

He said the prosecution had failed to prove that the accused was at the scene of the murder and two prosecution witnesses had given contradictory statements.

“One witness said he saw the accused at the scene around midnight and at 100m away and it’s not possible to identify someone at that distance considering it's also dark," the judge said.

He said that before the murder, Chelele was in constant contact with one Antony Ngari a friend of the accused. The judge said the prosecution failed to establish the relationship between the two.

The prosecution should have investigated the relationship between the accused, the deceased and Ngarim Mwongo said, adding that this did not happen.

“Hours before the deceased was murdered she spoke over 10  times with the said Ngari but for reasons better known to the prosecution, they did not follow this,” he said.

He noted that communication evidence adduced in court proved that the accused was also in contact with Ngari but prosecution again failed to follow this.

Speaking outside the court, Chelele's sister, Beatrice Cheney, told of their pain and disappointment after waiting for justice from the court.

“We are still in mourning following the murder of our sister and this has been made worse by the court ruling in which we had placed our hope,"  she said.

(Edited by V. Graham) .