- The deceased Geoffrey Matenje was killed in cold blood six years ago in a house at Kamkunji estate in Eldoret.
- He had been a long time newspaper vendor outside the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital.
Image: MATHEWS NDANYI
A 32-year-old Eldoret woman accused of killing her husband who was a newspaper vendor has been found guilty of murder by a High Court.
The deceased Geoffrey Matenje was killed in cold blood six years ago in a house at Kamkunji estate in Eldoret.
He had been a long time newspaper vendor outside the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital.
His wife Melisa Muhinda, a mother of two children was found guilty of the murder alongside a motorcycle rider Ekitu Amatuka.
Amatuka was a boda boda rider who was allegedly hired to participate in the murder.
While delivering his judgment, Justice Reuben Nyakundi affirmed that the two suspects were directly involved in the murder of Matenje and the prosecution had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt.
“From the evidence here, you were both directly involved in the killing. You decided to end his life against God's plan for him," said the judge.
The judge said mobile phone communications between the two placed the two suspects at the scene of the crime.
The Judge also faulted Amatuka for bringing his mother in court to testify in his favour during the trial only for her to give false evidence.
"She just lied to the court in her effort to have her son released but he is guilty as charged," said the judge.
Matenje 35 met his gruesome death in his house on the fateful night of October 6, 2018, under circumstances that raised questions among neighbours, friends and relatives.
He was hacked severally on the head, neck, and legs before his body was dismembered and stashed in a gunny sack.
The accused are said to have then loaded the mutilated body parts onto a motorbike.
Some residents bumped into them on the way to dump the body.
During the hearing, the court was told how the motorbike was intercepted by neighbours less than 500 metres from the deceased’s house while being transported to an unknown destination for dumping.
It was further established that the newspaper vendor’s wife conspired with the motorcycle rider to kill her husband for unknown reasons.
Nelson Wasamba, the state witness, said that he heard dogs barking in the neighbourhood while the suspect was wailing.
“The suspect started wailing and complaining that her husband had been killed. We rushed to her house and demanded to be shown the body but we couldn’t see it in the house. That is when we discovered that the body was lying on the road near the house,” Wasamba said.
A postmortem that was conducted on the body of the deceased revealed that he died of severe internal bleeding caused by a heart injury.
The report further indicated that he had multiple injuries on his abdomen.
Justice Nyakundi directed the suspect to be remanded at the Eldoret GK remand prison until the sentencing date which had been set for June 3, 2024.