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The Office of the Director of Public Prosecution (ODPP) is seeking a warrant of arrest for a couple living in the United States of America (USA) to face charges of conspiring to murder five of their family members.
State prosecutor Joseck Abwajo said the ODPP takes note of a mutual and legal agreement between Kenya and the USA, which would facilitate the deportation of Amos Wanjiru and his wife, Alice Muya, to their country of origin.
The two are jointly charged with their 73-year-old father, Francis Muya, with five counts of conspiracy to murder their family members, including their mother.
The father, Muya, has denied that on diverse dates between 1st March and 2nd May 2024, jointly with others not in court, he hired killers at a cost of over Sh3m to murder his estranged wife, Rose Njeri Muya.
He also faces four other charges of conspiracy to murder Antony Mwaura, Martin Muya, Alex Muya, and Oprah Muya, the farmers' three sons and a daughter, respectively.
When the case came up for hearing at the Naivasha law courts, Abwajo, the prosecutor, told the court that the defense team, despite promising to avail themselves of the two accused on several occasions, had failed to do so.
He said that of the three accused, only the father had been charged with the case delaying for over two years as the court waited for the couple to be arraigned in court.
“We are praying for warrants of arrest for the two suspects who are living in the US, and this can be easily achieved as there is a legal understanding between the two countries,” he said.
The victim’s lawyer, PK Njuguna, noted that the family had been living in fear as the case dragged on, adding that the defense could no longer be believed to avail the suspects in court.
Njuguna called on the court to take decisive action by issuing a warrant of arrest so that the victims could get justice after years of waiting.
“Since the case started, the two accused have never appeared physically or virtually, and it's time that the court stamped its authority and had the two arrested and deported to face trial,” he said.
The defense counsel, Edwin Njagi, however, defended the two accused, noting that they had never been served with any court order and were willing to appear in court when ordered to.
Naivasha Chief Magistrate Abdulqadir Ramathan, in a virtual session, said that he would make a ruling on the issue on the 2nd of June when the two accused are supposed to appear virtually.
In this case, the father, with the help of his daughter and son-in-law, allegedly hired killers to assist in getting rid of the family members so that they could take over the prime plot in Molo town.
According to documents filed in court, the plan started on the 1st of March 20204 when the father and his daughter allegedly met two killers in a hotel in Nakuru.
They settled for a fee of Sh3.1m and proceeded to get the cash through the father and daughter, as the woman who lives in the US flew back.
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