• Justice Stephen Githinji sentenced Enock Onzanse to death in a 15-minute judgement he delivered in Eldoret.
• The motive of the killing was not established.
Image: FILE
A man who killed his brother’s three children five years ago in Eldoret and dumped the bodies in a river at Moi's Bridge has been sentenced to death by the High Court.
Justice Stephen Githinji sentenced Enock Onzanse to death in a 15-minute judgement he delivered in Eldoret.
The motive of the killing was not established.
Onzanse stood alone in the dock with no family members present as the judgement was delivered.
The 33-year-old Onsanse is accused of murdering his elder brother James Ratemo Nyambane’s children.
Ratemo was a former Kanu aspirant for councillor in Eldoret.
The children were aged six, five and three.
The three children went missing on May 13, 2017 on their way to Eldovil SDA Church. Their bodies were found a few days later in River Nzoia along the border of Uasin Gishu and Kakamega counties a week later.
They lived at Kapsoya estate in Eldoret.
A postmortem from Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital, Eldoret, would later confirm that the children were strangled before their bodies were dumped in River Nzoia.
Justice Githinji said the prosecution had proved the case against the accused.
"The accused was identified by several witnesses as the last person who was seen with the deceased before they met their death,” ruled Justice Githinji.
Justice Githinji said that the accused waited for the children on their way to church, misled John Nyamweya - the children's cousin - in order to have them in his custody and disappeared with them only for their bodies to be found in River Nzoia, Moi’s Bridge dead.
"This shows an intention to cause the death of the victims that was planned and executed,” said the judge.
The judge said the prosecution had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt by demonstrating that the deceased persons met their death as a result of unlawful action by the accused person and that the unlawful acts were committed with malice aforethought on his part.
Witnesses who testified told the court that Onsanse was the last person seen with the children.
During the hearing of the case in 2018, a witness told the court he saw the accused with the children the same day they went missing.