Nairobi woman accused of plan to kill ex-husband over property charged

Monica Kalondu Wambua (left) and Papias Karinga Mureithi at the Kibera Law Courts Monday. They were charged with conspiring to murder Eric Murigu. [PHOTO: DAVID NJAAGA/STANDARD]

NAIROBI: A woman accused of planning to have her estranged husband killed has been charged with attempted murder.

Monica Wambua, 38, was arraigned at the Kibera Law Courts yesterday alongside her co-accused Pappias Mureithi charged with attempting to kill Eric Murigu, a businessman.

Ms Wambua and Mr Mureithi denied committing the offense before Chief Magistrate Ann Ong'injo.

They were ordered to deposit Sh1 million bond each to secure their release.
They allegedly committed the offense on May 2 at a car wash in Umoja Estate.

"The offense the accused are facing is serious and requires stiff bond terms," said the prosecution.

They allegedly plotted to kill the businessman but their plan, the prosecution said, failed after Mr Murigu discovered that the two were after his life and alerted the police.

The two were arrested last week following claims that they had hired three men to kill Murigu who has business interests in Nairobi and Lamu.

The two had been arraigned in court on Friday, but Prosecution sought two days to conclude investigations.

Ms Wambua, 38, separated with Murigu last year. They had been married for 15 years and have two sons. In court yesterday, it emerged that Wambua had filed for divorce and the process is reportedly pending in court.

The information was revealed by their lawyer. But according to the prosecution, the woman has not filed for divorce and hence the two are legally married.

The defense lawyer argued that the case arose from a fight between the two over matrimonial property. The lawyer said the couple has been struggling on how to sub-divide the property they had accumulated during their 15-year union.

"I wish to bring it to the attention of the court that this is a matter that arises over struggle for property between one of my clients and the complainant," the lawyer said.

The court heard that the estranged couple was to file suit for separation of matrimonial property. However, last week's incident has changed the plan since the accused and her co-accused were arrested over the alleged plot.

The defense claimed that Murigu was escalating a matrimonial case to criminal proceedings. He said it was as a result of the matrimonial property that Murigu had allegedly opted to institute criminal case against his ex-wife by claiming that she and her co-accused had plotted to kill him.

"This matter has degenerated from being matrimonial in nature and is now in court as criminal," he said. The lawyer pleaded with the court to release his clients on lenient bond terms saying they were willing to comply with any conditions the court could impose.

The prosecution told the court that it has lined witnesses to testify when the trial begins. The prosecutor said he was not opposed to the release of the two on bail, but urged the court to take into consideration the nature of the offense they were facing.