A Kitale court has convicted a man for the murder of his wife following a domestic fight in Trans Nzoia county.
Simon Ndung’u was found guilty of murdering
Everlyne Chebet, 32, who succumbed to head injuries after two months in
hospital.
High Court judge Robert Limo ruled that the 2023 killing was proved beyond reasonable doubt despite a “poorly investigated” case.
Ndung’u, who faced a charge of murder, denied assaulting the victim or even living with her, contrary to witness testimonies, who testified that the couple consistently lived together as husband and wife.
One of the neighbours, John Kijabi, told the court that on the night of December 6, 2022 at Gituamba, he heard the couple fighting.
Kijabi said when she left the house, she appeared weak and had difficulty walking.
The deceased went to another neighbour's place, who informed him she was in bad shape.
“He stated that he then mobilised neighbours to raise funds for medical attention. That they raised funds and rushed the deceased to Gituamba dispensary where the nurse there referred the deceased to Kapsokwony hospital due to her bad condition,” court records show.
“He stated that they arranged for boda boda transport to ferry the deceased to Kapsokwony Hospital for treatment and that that was the last time he saw her alive.”
She succumbed to her injuries on February 26, 2023.
The postmortem examination, conducted by Dr Dennis Nanyingi, revealed a right temporal skull fracture, blood clots between the skull and brain and a semi-collapsed lung.
The cause of death was head injury and heart failure secondary to assault with a blunt object.
The victim’s father, Morris Ijaka, told the court that on December 9, 2022 he received reports that his daughter was admitted to hospital. He went there and found her in a bad state, as she was not eating or talking.
He then reported the matter to the police and went home. He was later informed that his daughter had died.
Ijaka also confirmed to the court that his daughter used to live with the accused as his wife and noted that he had previously seen the accused going to the hospital to take food to her.
The court was highly critical of police handling of the case, even when the victim’s brother-in-law, Stephen Chesiro, tried to report the assault.
“The prosecution’s case on the overall was poorly investigated right from the moment the initial report was made at Gituamba patrol base.
“It is apparent from the evidence tendered by Stephen Chesiro and deceased’s father Morris Ijaka (PW4) that the police for unknown reasons never took the matter seriously when they received the initial report,” Justice Limo said.
“It is quite apparent that perhaps owing to the humble background of the deceased and her family the police never took the matter seriously so much that in the entire investigations, the DCI (Directorate of Criminal Investigations) office was not involved which this court found a bit strange.”
The court also said the charge sheet incorrectly listed the date of the incident as February 26, 2023—the day the victim died— rather than December 6, 2022, when the beating occurred.
Justice Limo ruled that the severity of the head injuries proved a clear intent to cause grievous harm.
“It is clear therefore that the deceased did not die of natural causes but the death was deliberately caused by unlawful acts of a person.
“The deceased’s body was said to have bed sores but that probably was caused by long hospitalisation and probably lack of proper medical care.”
The judge concluded that the state had proved its case.
“This court is satisfied that the prosecution’s case against the accused has been proved beyond reasonable doubt. He caused the murder of his wife or partner for reasons best known to him and he is hereby found guilty and convicted accordingly.”
