- The court said there was no direct evidence led by the prosecution on how Wangari met her death or on how she was found under the lorry.
- This is beside the evidence by Mugoro that he felt that the lorry had stepped onto something and upon checking he noticed that his wife's body was under the lorry.
Image: FILE
American TV personality Iyanla Vanzan said family is supposed to be our safe place. Very often, it's the place we find the deepest heartache.
This is the case of the late Hannah Wangari's family, who was allegedly murdered by her husband, Francis Murigi Mugoro.
Mugoro was accused of killing his wife on July 10, 2009, in the Milimani area in Makuyu, Murang'a County, following a dispute from the previous night.
He was arrested and taken to the High Court at Murang'a after his children suspected foul play in their mother's death.
During the trial, the prosecution produced ten witnesses among whom were their children.
His daughter Faith Muthoni Wangare told the court that she was ten when Wangari died and that her parents quarreled a lot.
She said on the ninth day of July 2009, her father came home with meat and asked her mother to prepare it.
He then stepped out and upon coming back, the meat was still uncooked.
He asked why that was, threatening to beat his wife.
At some point, Wangare said, her father said he was not afraid of Kamiti and picked a stool, hitting his wife on the head and causing her to scream.
After a while, they went to bed, and at around 4 am, her mother called for her to open the door but she was told by her father to go back to sleep.
Later, her aunt came over and left with some clothes and a blanket.
Her father would later inform her that her mother had fallen from a car.
Alex Nganga said on the material day, they had gone to Muthithi for a funeral and when he returned home, he heard Mugoro and Wangari arguing.
At around 4 am, his father asked them to help him push his lorry which they did enabling him to park it.
He told the court that in the morning, his father called him to go and see his mother, who was lying a hundred metres from the lorry.
The man then directed Nganga to file a report to the police that she had been ran over by a vehicle.
He however did not see any blood from the purported accident.
Another son, Kamau Thuita, said he was informed of their mother's death by Nganga and he met the family at Bishop Okoye Funeral Home.
He said the clothes Wangari had on were worn inside out and had no blood stains.
The same was corroborated by one other witness.
The court also heard from Zacharia Mbugua Njoroge who said he was called to the scene by Nganga.
When he got there, he found Wangari's body behind the lorry.
Mugoro said he had thought the lorry had gone over a bump only to discover that it was a body.
He also said Wangari's clothes were inside out and there were no visible injuries or blood.
On his part, George Ndungu said he had assisted in pushing the lorry and had seen Wangari at around 4:30 am standing on the sidelines.
He later heard that she had been run over in the chest area.
The aunt aforementioned by Wangare, Immaculate Njeri, said she found Mugoro holding his dead wife some thirty meters from the lorry.
Upon postmortem, the doctor, Peter Muriuki Ndegwa said Wangari's body had bruises on the left side of the head, fractures on the femur ribs ruptured lungs, and liver.
As a result of his examination, he formed an opinion that the cause of death was multiple organ injuries due to multiple force trauma.
In cross-examination, he told the court that he could not tell if the death was a result of a road traffic accident and that he recommended further investigations.
The court also heard from Police Constable Erick Gitonga who said they had received a report at Makuyu of a fatal road accident involving a pedestrian who was hit by a lorry.
He however added that some of the family members were dissatisfied with the postmortem done by Ndegwa arguing that the accident was a cover-up.
They lodged a complaint and a further postmortem was done by another doctor on September 20, 2009, who formed an opinion that the injuries were inconsistent with a road traffic accident.
Gitonga told the court that upon the inquest being conducted, it was recommended that Mugoro be charged with murder.
When he was put on defence, Mugoro contended that he had asked to be assisted in pushing the lorry and that he reversed into the compound at 4.20 am.
He noticed that the lorry had hit something so he went to check using his phone light only to find that it was his wife, he raised an alarm attracting people.
He denied there being an argument between him and Wangari.
Mugoro told the court that a dispute arose between him and the children who did not inform him of the second postmortem leading to a burial dispute.
He added that upon them burying their mother at her former husband's place they lodged a complaint that he had bribed the police leading to an inquest.
After deliberating the case, Justice James Wakiaga pointed out that the prosecution had the burden to prove the charge of murder beyond reasonable doubt.
The court noted that the family was disputing the cause of Wangari's death, save for the evidence that the same was caused by multiple organ injuries due to multiple force trauma.
"Whereas the accused theory was that the same was as a result of a road accident, the prosecution disputed that theory but offered no evidence to dislodge the same," court papers say.
Further, the court said there was no direct evidence led by the prosecution on how Wangari met her death or on how she was found under the lorry.
This is beside the evidence by Mugoro that he felt that the lorry had stepped onto something and upon checking he noticed that his wife's body was under the lorry.
It was corroborated through the written statement of one George Ndungu who was not called as a witness and Njeri whose evidence was that she found the man at the scene holding the chest of the deceased.
The court poked holes into the prosecution case saying it was solely founded on circumstantial evidence that Mugoro had hit his wife with a stool on the material night at 8 pm.
There was however no evidence whether that would have caused the nature of injuries as per the evidence of Ndengwa.
Further, the court found that there was a gap in the circumstantial evidence tendered as to whether Mugoro caused the death of his wife with malice aforethought.
It said there was only evidence of suspicion on the part of the children that their father might have killed their mother.
"It is trite law that mere suspicion however strong cannot form a basis of conviction in a criminal where the prosecution is required to prove the guilt of an accused person beyond reasonable doubt," the judge noted.
On Wednesday, Judge Wakiaga held that the prosecution failed to prove malice aforethought on the part of the man, which is essential especially where the case is founded on circumstantial evidence.
"I therefore in the final analysis find and hold that the prosecution failed to establish the case against the accused beyond reasonable doubt and therefore find the same not guilty," the judge said.
Considering the prosecution's failure to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt, Judge Wakiaga acquitted Mugoro.
"The accused (Mugoro)shall be set free forthwith unless otherwise lawfully held."