Why judges freed man who stabbed and killed his unfaithful wife

PNK was arrested and a knife recovered. [iStockphoto]

The Court of Appeal has freed a man on death row for killing his wife in an infidelity saga.

Justices Agnes Murgor, Sankale ole Kantai and Gachoka Mwaniki ordered that the man, codenamed PKM, be released after eight years in jail.

This is after court finding that he never intended to kill his wife. Judges observed that Justice Stella Mutuku should have considered the man found his wife in a compromising position in their neighbour's bed.

According to the bench headed by Justice Murgor, PKM was extremely provoked as he had first tried to reach out to her on phone, before finding her in bed naked with a neighbour.

"It is explicit from a careful examination of the evidence that the appellant tried and failed to reach his wife on her phone the whole day, only to find her naked in bed. He was so enraged that he attacked both of them and ended up stabbing the deceased to death," the bench ruled.

The bench was of the view that PKM lost his senses, which led him to unintentionally stab her in the chest in a fit of rage. "We agree with counsel for the appellant that in those circumstances, the prosecution did not establish the necessary mens rea, under section 206 of the Penal Code, for a conviction of murder to be reached," the judges ruled.

At the High Court, the State called 10 witnesses. The first, a pastor said on January 5, 2013, he was alerted that someone had been killed in a house nearby.

Caught in the act

The witness, also a chair of a community policing committee, said he found the deceased lying in bed and blood around her body. Asked about the house owner, where the body was found, the pastor said he heard it belonged to a man who escaped after being caught in the act.

Police constable Michael Chege was another witness. He told the court he was called by a colleague who informed him there was a murder scene at KCC Village.

PNK was arrested and a knife recovered. When put on his defence, PNK narrated that he was meant to move houses and was not at work. He was to look for transport to move household items to their new residence while the deceased went to see a friend at Umoja Inner Core.

PNK further testified that when he returned, he found the door locked and the house was empty. The court heard that PNK went to the neighbour's house, and asked him to assist with charging his phone.

It emerged that PNK sat to watch TV, and then went to buy some cigarettes to smoke. However, upon return, his neighbour had left the house door open, which gave a full view of the neighbour and the deceased making love.

A struggle ensured. The court heard that the deceased was accidentally stabbed while trying to intervene between the two men. PNK said he was confused after the incident and did not intend to kill anyone.