Court orders self-confessed serial killer Phillip Onyancha re-tried

Self-confessed serial killer Philip Onyancha at the High Court during the hearing of a case in which he was facing murder charges. [Photo by Fidelis Kabunyi/Standard]

The High Court has ordered self-confessed serial killer Phillip Onyancha to be tried afresh, citing a mistrial.

Eight years after he was charged alongside Douglas Obiero and Tobias Nyabuhanga for killing 18 women, the court found that there were grave procedural errors during the trial. The court said it could not determine whether or not they were guilty of murder.

Justice James Wakiaga pointed out that Mr Onyancha was placed on his defence despite a ruling that he was insane. He said the accused ought to be tried afresh before another judge of the same court division.

“Having pointed out the procedural errors on the record and the fact it was the prosecution which offered a defence of insanity without complying with Section 12 of the Criminal Code, I have come to a conclusion there is a miscarriage of justice therein, hereby rendering the trial a nullity, which can only be cured by declaring a mistrial,” he ruled.

The State called an individual psychiatrist and even ordered a team of them to assess Onyancha but they could not agree on his sanity.

Bizarre actions

The first psychiatrist, a Dr Njau based in Nakuru, told the court that despite his bizarre actions, Onyancha was not a lunatic.

He said although the dreadful crimes included a methodical hunt, enticement and eventual killing of his victims, who included women and children strangled behind silent walls, he was fit to stand trial.

But the court was not satisfied that his behaviour, which included sucking his victim’s blood, was that of a sane person. Justice Jessie Lesiit ordered that he should be re-examined, this time by Kenya’s chief psychiatrist, joined by two other psychiatrists.

On July 19, 2010, Ronald Kokonya, then provincial psychiatrist for Southern region, appeared in court with a report of the panel that they had reached a conclusion that Onyancha could stand trial and even hire a lawyer.

The doctors however pointed out that he was likely to commit the same offence.

As a result, the three were charged and they pleaded not guilty.

On June 14, 2011, lawyer Paul Muite took over the case and told the court that he was organising a team of doctors to re-examine Onyancha. He identified a consultant psychiatrist, a Dr Owiti, who was to lead the team.

Owiti said the accused was mentally disturbed at the time he was committing the crime. The prosecution ordered Onyancha jailed at the “pleasure of the President".