Court to give verdict for three in Willy Kimani triple murder today

Members of the civil society in a vigil at the Nakuru Law Courts on June 23, 2017, to mark a year since human rights lawyer Willie Kimani, his client and a taxi driver were murdered. [File, Standard]

On June 23, 2016, human rights lawyer Willy Kimani, his client Josephat Mwenda and their taxi driver Joseph Muiruri were abducted after leaving Mavoko Law Court in Machakos County.

They were bundled into a waiting car, taken to Syokimau Police Post, and locked inside the cells without being booked. 

They were later smuggled out and brutally murdered before their bodies were transported in sacks and dumped in a river at Thika.

Their killings caused public uproar and now, after six years of waiting, the verdict will finally be out against four police officers and a civilian accused of the murders.

Today, Lady Justice Jessie Lessit is expected to give judgment against the officers - Fredrick ole Leliman, Stephen Morogo, Sylvia Wanjohi, Leonard Maina, and Peter Ngugi - who was then a police informer.

When the trial came to a close in February, the evidence by the prosecution pointed to a well-planned execution of the three.

This emerged through witness testimonies, phone data and records, and a confession by Ngugi, the fifth accused person, who agreed to confess to the planning and execution of the murder after being promised a job by homicide detectives who were investigating the matter.

While reconstructing how it all began, the prosecution gave a summary of the dispute that started in April 2015 when Leliman shot and arrested Mwenda, who at the time was a motorcycle rider.

Leliman took Mwenda to Mavoko Law Court where he was charged with being in possession of bhang, resisting arrest, and gambling.

An aggrieved Mwenda reported the matter to the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) and sought help from the International Justice Mission (IJM).

It was Mwenda’s action that irked Leliman as he felt his job was in danger after IPOA took up the matter and the officer was summoned for questioning. IJM also came on board and tasked Kimani to defend Mwenda in the case at Mavoko Court.

On the fateful day of June 23, 2016, the three appeared in court for a hearing, not knowing it would be their last day alive. 

Ngugi confessed that after the killings, the bodies were put in gunny bags, stashed in two car boots, and dumped in a river. The prosecution’s closing remarks were that they had proved the offence of murder against the five accused persons beyond any reasonable doubt, backed by the evidence of 47 witnesses and 117 pieces of exhibits.

The accused persons equally made a strong case to prove their innocence and produced several exhibits with 15 witnesses on their side. A post-mortem report by chief government pathologist Dr Johansen Oduor, which was also used as evidence in the case, showed that the three were killed through blunt force trauma on their heads before being strangled.