How I killed baby to win husband’s love

 Elenah Nyambura in Court

A woman was sentenced to death after the court found her guilty of murdering her co-wife’s daughter to win back the love of her husband.

High Court Judge Fred Ochieng’ ruled that Elenah Nyambura and three others were responsible for the death of eight-year-old Sheila Wanjiku, who was fatally stabbed 10 times.

The judged ruled that Elenah involved her best friend, Peris Njeri, her brother, Geoffrey Njuguna and his friend, Kenneth Muriithi, to execute the murder for Sh80,000.

Sheila was the daughter of Eunice Nyawira, a housegirl of Elenah whom her husband, Peter Kamau, had turned into a wife at their home at Civil Servants Estate in Kariobangi South, Nairobi.

After her arrest, Nyambura confessed to Chief Inspector Ebby Mutali that she wanted her man back and the way to make that possible was by eliminating the ‘only barrier’ between them. She wanted to get rid of both mother and daughter.

Nyambura, in her confession, said she felt her husband loved Sheila more than the son he had with her.

A look at the court documents reveal the circus that the couple’s marriage had become.

The year was 2009. The death penalty was still in force. Kenya’s divorce laws had not been changed and adultery was still the most common reason for dissolution of marriages.

But for Nyambura, things were different. Her former house help was now a co-wife and business partner in the supermarket and bakery their husband Kamau owned.

According to evidence presented in court, Nyambura planned Sheila’s murder to win back her estranged husband. In his testimony, Kamau admitted that he no longer lived with Nyambura at the time of trial.

On the fateful day that  Sheila was murdered on August 2, 2009, Teresa Mugure, their new housegirl, opened the door to Peris Njeri. Teresa was feeding Sheila at the time and was planning to leave the house to buy an avocado, which the child had requested. At the door, she met two young men.

“One of the men said he was Mama Sheila’s brother, but I did not know mama Sheila that well since I had not worked for her that long,” said Teresa in her testimony.

The young man was Kenneth Muriithi who was accompanied by another young man identified as Anderson.

Teresa reportedly sought to know whether Sheila’s mother was aware of Muriithi’s visit, which he affirmed by placing an alleged phone call to Nyawira and putting her on loudspeaker. The voice on the other end of the line told Teresa that she was at the building’s parking lot.

Teresa testified that she was not sure about the identity of the voice, and decided to wait for the child’s mother.

“Suddenly, one of the young men grabbed me by the neck and stabbed me in the forehand and I fell down,” Teresa recalled, but was not sure whether it was Muriithi or Anderson.

After she fell down, Muriithi is said to have pinned Sheila down as Anderson stabbed the eight-year-old continuously, Teresa testified, further telling the court that she became unconscious after being stabbed in the neck.

When she regained consciousness, she found  the baby lying on the floor, the knife by her side. The doctor who examined the girl’s body concluded that the cause of death was severe bleeding from 10 stab wounds in the neck.

Days later at the police station, Teresa identified Peris and Kenneth Muriithi at an identification parade on September 23, 2009, at Mowlem Police Post which is under the jurisdiction of Buruburu Police Station.

The baby’s father, Peter Kamau, testified that Nyambura was off duty from the family business on the material day. Kamau said he rushed home after receiving a call from a neighbour, only to find his house help Teresa soaked in blood and being supported by some neighbours.

On entering the house, he said he found his daughter dead, with a knife besides her lifeless body.