• Prosecution has lined up 33 witnesses to prove that 'Jowie was left with Monica before her murder'.
• Defence argues that Monica could have died from starvation as postmortem did not indicate if she had food in her stomach.
The prosecution has new evidence that could link TV personality Jacque Maribe to businesswoman Monica Kimani's murder.
Scene of crime police officer Jennifer Sirwa showed the court pictures, among them that of a briefcase packed with bullets found in the ceiling, taken in Maribe’s apartment at Royal Park, Lang'ata.
The briefcase was wrapped in a plastic bag. It had bullets and spent cartridges wrapped in a white paper. There were also two empty magazines.
Another picture Sirwa produced in court was that of Monica dressed in a green nightdress in a bathtub. Her feet were raised and a six-centimetre slit on her neck is visible.
On her henna-tattooed arms were white sealing straps. A length of tape covered her mouth.
Sirwa said she suspected that Monica was killed in the living room and the body dragged to the bathroom.
“There was a towel soaked in blood which we suspect could have been used to wipe the blood from the living room,” she said.
Defence lawyer Hassan Nandwa (for Joseph Irungu) claimed that Monica could have died of starvation since the postmortem examination did not indicate any food in her stomach.
The trial will last three days after the suspects took fresh pleas. The prosecution amended Irungu’s name to include an alias, Harun.
Initially, the charge sheet only had Joseph Irungu alias Jowie. Yesterday, the two denied killing Monica at her Lamuria Gardens house on September 19, last year.
Nandwa asked pathologist Peter Ndegwa: “Did you open her oesophagus to ascertain the food Monica took that day? Did you open her stomach? Could we suggest that the cause of her death was as a result of starvation because there was no food in the stomach?”
The lawyer had also said the cut on Monica's neck could have been inflicted when she was already dead.
Ndegwa said, “There was bleeding. Dead bodies do not bleed. She had a visibly slit throat and blood oozing from her nose.”
The postmortem was done on September 24 at Chiromo mortuary.
Monica, according to the pathologist, died as a result of a wound caused by a sharp object. He body had bruises on one of the wrists. Both wrists were bound with a sealing tape.
“The body belonged to a 28-year-old, in a wet, bloodstained maroon and white bed cover. She was dressed in a blue and green free flowing dress,” Ndegwa said.
There was a light moment that prompted the judge to ask the packed room if "they were there for a soap opera or a Nigerian movie" shifted drastically when the second pathologist presented the gory pictures.
Prosecutor Catherine Mwaniki opened the hearing before High Court Judge James Wakiaga by saying who Monica was.
Maribe’s lawyer Katwa Kigen objected, stating that it was not important for the court to know who Monica was as the issue was to find out if the accused were guilty.
“Whether she was a beauty or not is not the issue here, the issue is about whether or not the accused are culpable,” Kigen said.
He complained that the introduction was designed to highlight that the accused are guilty. “It doesn’t require that the court gets to know what kind of person was killed. The line that the DPP has taken is a waste of resources.”
Justice Wakiaga agreed with the defence and asked Mwaniki, “Do you do this to every witness or is it just Monica?”
The prosecution has lined up 33 witnesses. “Life is sacrosanct. We shall also prove that; there was an attempted cover-up from both accused. That at the time of the incident, there wasn’t a provoked fight, therefore no self-defence and that the two accused can be deemed as principal offenders,” Mwaniki said.
Monica was born on October 12, 1990. She attended Stepping Stone Academy before joining Kaari Secondary School and later Kenya Polytechnic for International Relations studies.
Edited by R.Wamochie