• The husband had taken Sh1,000 meant for food and refused to return it. He, his wife and sister quarrelled and fought.
• Judge ruled it wasnot murder but manslaughter. After the fight the man fell asleep, woke up with a headache, took painkillers and never awoke
Image: FILE
A woman, who killed her husband for taking Sh1,000 cash meant for food was on Thursday sentenced to three years probation.
Her sister, who struck him in the head, will also serve the same sentence.
The violence occurred on August 2, 2018, in Karena Village in Marakwet East sub-county within Elgeyo Marakwet. They have been in remand since then.
Winnie Jepkorir and her sister Irene Yatich were charged with manslaughter after they killed Jeremiah Kipkemoi who was hit on the head with a stone.
Both pleaded guilty.
Eldoret High Court Judge Erick Ogola said there was a clear provocation and the two did not mean to kill Kipkemoi during the fight.
“The proof of offence of manslaughter attracts a maximum sentence of life in prison. In this case, however, there was a clear provocation. The fight did not immediately result in death. Death followed later, unexpectedly,” the judge ruled.
According to court documents Kipkemoi, who was the husband of the accused, returned home while drunk at around 1 pm.
He took Sh1,000 that was on the table, money meant for food. His wife, who was also drunk, asked him to return the money but he refused.
A quarrel ensued and the two got physical. Jepkorir overpowered him and he fell to the floor. She started biting him while he was down.
Jepkoris’s sister, Yatich who saw the two fight, took a stone and hit the deceased on the head with it. The two continued to pin him to the floor and retrieved the money before letting him go.
The husband fell asleep.
“At about 7.30 pm my husband complained of a headache so I gave him pain killers," the widow testified.
"We slept until around 5 am when I tried to wake him up but he remained unresponsive. At that point I rushed out and to notify neighbours and relatives,” Jepkorir told the court.
It was then established that Kipkemoi had already died.
The accused and her sister were arrested and taken to the Tot police station.
They were charged with murder after the post mortem established the cause of death to be a blunt injury to the head.
Jepkorir said she was remorseful and the facts that led to her husband's death were unfortunate. She said both of them were drunk and she regretted that.
She told the court that she has three young children and the family of her husband has forgiven her. She begged for a non-custodial sentence.
The judge said the accused have been in custody for four years since their arrest, during which time Jepkorir conceived and delivered a baby in prison.
“All the three children now have only the accused as the remaining parent, therefore, a non-custodial sentence would serve more justice for the accused and victim,” the judge said.
“I, therefore, jail [sentence] the accused to a probation period of three years under the supervision of the Probation Service,” he ruled.
(Edited by V. Graham)