• The judge said Wilfred’s widow had witnessed Pamba and two others beating her late husband to death.
• Tthe prosecution said Pamba and two others had alleged that the deceased was involved in witchcraft, so they attacked and fatally injured him.
Image: /FILE
A Busia man accused of killing his brother over witchcraft suspicions has been found guilty of murder.
Samwel Pamba was found guilty of killing his brother Wilfred Wabwire on May 31, 2017, in Munando village, Busia county.
Busia High Court judge Kiarie Waweru ruled that the prosecution had proven the offence of murder against Pamba.
“I find him guilty and accordingly convict him for the offence of murder,” the judge ruled.
The judge said Wilfred’s widow had witnessed Pamba and two others beating her husband to death.
According to the prosecution, Pamba and two others had alleged that the deceased was involved in witchcraft. They attacked and fatally injured Wilfred.
In his defense, Pamba denied killing his brother, saying he was found lying wounded on a path.
But the court dismissed his defense and ruled that the witnesses, who are his family members, saw him and two others beating the deceased that night.
On the night of the incident, Wilfred was preparing to take a bath outside his house when he told his wife Jennifer Omolo to go out and listen to the insults that were being hurled at him.
She went outside and heard Pamba, Kizito Mangenyi and another man by the name Bossy accusing her husband of witchcraft.
They accused him of having killed many people through witchcraft and even claimed that he caused the accident of Lawrence Wanjala through witchcraft.
Jennifer told the court that they threatened to kill him, but she managed to persuade them to go away, saying they would discuss the issue the following day. They left but, later that night when she was in the house with her husband, Kizito came back and called Wilfred out and told him he had a message to deliver to him.
She said that when her husband stepped out, she heard Kizito tell her husband that Pamba had asked him to stop witchcraft. Later, Jennifer heard the sound of something being hit.
When she went out she found her husband lying down bleeding. His brain and blood were oozing out.
She said Pamba, Kizito and Bossy were each armed with a club and were beating her husband. She screamed and Kizito and Bossy ran away while Pamba remained at the scene.
James Wabwire, his brother, also testified that he was the one who wrestled him and took the club from him and gave it to their mother.
James said he was attracted by the screams of Wilfred’s wife and when he got there, he found Pamba and the other two beating his brother.
Their mother, Marita Ajiambo, also testified against her son Pamba. She confirmed the testimony of her daughter-in-law and son James.
The judge said though the incident was at night, it involved close relatives who knew each other very well.
“The accused interacted with Jennifer, his brother James Nyongesa and his mother Marita. When he was leaving the scene, Margaret Mubweka Wabwire with the help of a spotlight recognised him,” the court noted.
Judge Kiarie found that Pamba participated in the beating of his brother, who later succumbed to the injuries inflicted to him.
It was the court’s finding that Pamba had the intention to kill his brother, meaning there was malice.
“Coupled with the evidence of the beating as testified to by the eyewitnesses and confirmed by the medical evidence of Dr Hillary Kiplagat (PW7) establish beyond any reasonable doubts that the accused and his accomplices had the requisite mens rea to commit the offence he is charged with,” Judge Kiarie ruled.