Two men have been convicted of murdering a teenager after a disco attack in Luanda subcounty.
The High Court in Vihiga found Fredrick Shem and Mathias Alembi guilty of killing Kevin Otiato, a student, on August 17, 2018.
The court heard that Otiato left for computer classes at Ekwamba Secondary School and later visited a disco in Ekwanda location.
He was found unconscious on the road and succumbed to severe head injuries.
A postmortem examination confirmed severe head injury from blunt force trauma.
Both men denied murdering Otiato, arguing that no eyewitness placed them at the crime scene.
“They submitted that there was no continuous chain of events connecting them to the death because the reason for their arrest was the first accused person’s [Shem] alleged bad reputation of peddling bhang while the second accused person’s [Alembi] arrest was because of associating with him,” court records show.
They said that only two people had mentioned them: the third prosecution witness and Irene Oyiera, the second accused's girlfriend.
In his defence, Shem told the court he was working in Nairobi on the night of the murder.
“When he was cross-examined, he stated that he had a witness who could
confirm that he was in Nairobi at the material time of the incident, but that
he could not trace the said witness as he had been in jail for a long time,”
court documents show.
Alembi also offered an alibi, claiming he was at home with his wife and had been falsely accused due to a grudge with the ex-girlfriend.
He told the court he had a falling out with Oyiera, with whom he argued on August 10, 2018 after he married someone else. She later led police to his home, reporting that he sold bhang.
Officers recovered a metal rod, a sharp sword and cannabis, but no blood was found on the weapons.
“He explained that the metal rod that was found in his house was for mjengo (construction), the knife was for cutting vegetables, the solar panel for lighting and listening to music, as he had no power in his house, while the bhang was for sale when he had no mjengo (construction) work,” the court heard.
“He conceded that he did not have proof that he was in the house on the material date.”
One of the witnesses, who testified to being classmates with the deceased, said they had been together at his home before Otiato and three others left to attend a nearby disco.
His mother called him later to report that a boy who had been beaten was at their house and on checking, found it was Otiato who had been hit on the head and was bleeding.
“He contended that the deceased could not speak. He said that he reported the matter to the village elder, who contacted the principal of their school and the deceased was taken to the hospital.”
His mother corroborated his testimony, adding while Otiato did not mention whom his attackers were and she did not know the accused, she informed the police.
Investigating officer Sergeant Francis Matheka testified that a group of five people attacked Donald Akhunza (prosecution witness 3) and the deceased near a disco.
Akhunza recognised the second accused, Alembi, from their village. Police subsequently searched Alembi’s house, arresting him alongside Oyiera and recovering bhang, a sword and a metal rod suspected to be the murder weapon.
Matheka added that Shem fled to Nairobi upon Alembi's arrest.
The judge dismissed the alibi defences, finding that both accused had
been placed at the scene and failed to call supporting witnesses.
“This court was further satisfied that the prosecution established that there was common intention by the first and second accused persons to commit the offence while they were in a group of other people,” Justice Jacqueline Kamau said.
“It did not matter who hit the deceased or if people in the group were
bystanders. It was sufficient that they were together at the time the offence
was committed and had the intention of the deceased suffering some injury or
loss.”
Regarding the first accused person, Justice Kamau said, “The fact that he was arrested in Nairobi after the incident pointed to his guilty mind.”
The court was satisfied with the circumstantial evidence and subsequently, the two were convicted of the offence of murder.
