Shoddy investigation hands murder convict freedom

A convict sentenced to death over the murder of his cousin was freed by the Court of Appeal in Nakuru after establishing that the prosecution failed to link him to the killing.

Court of Appeal Judges Fred Ochieng, Weldon Korir, and Grace Wangui found that the High Court convicted Peter Macharia on circumstantial evidence.

Macharia was convicted in 2017 after he was found guilty of the murder of Julius Maina on July 6, 2013, in Weru, Nyandarua county.

The Judges observed that the prosecution linked Macharia to the murder after his trousers and jacket were found with blood stains.

"The results of the DNA analysis on the blood stains found on the appellant's said clothes visa vi the sticks found at the crime scene which were alleged to have been the murder weapons, yielded a positive match," the court observed.

John Maina, the deceased's brother, testified that he received a call from his sister at 6 am claiming to have spotted their brother wounded and bleeding.

Maina rushed to the scene which was only 700 meters from his house and found his brother bleeding from the head and hands.

With the help of neighbors, they took Julius to a dispensary, where he claimed that his brother revealed that Macharia and Ernest Muchiri assaulted him. Muchiri was later acquitted.

Maina reported the matter to the police leading to Macharia's arrest after he visited the hospital wearing a blood-stained jacket.

The court heard that Julius was referred to Naivasha District Hospital where he succumbed to the injuries.

At the scene, police allegedly recovered broken wood used to assault the deceased and later recovered a bloody trouser, and a blanket used to carry him to the hospital.

Macharia in his defense claimed that his jacket got blood stains after he came into contact with his cousin while lifting him.

The High Court Judge had dismissed his defense saying that it was unlikely his clothes got blood stains since he wasn't in direct contact with the deceased.

The three Judges observed that the trial court had the duty to examine and analyse the evidence before it came to a conclusion having the advantage of seeing and observing the demeanor of the witnesses.

The Court of Appeal said that at the scene where Julius was found, the High Court should have considered the possibility of family squabble.

"We are convinced that the prosecution did not prove beyond reasonable doubt that there were no other inferences other than the appellant's guilt that could have been drawn from the circumstances of the case," the Judges said.

The Judges explained that Macharia was convicted based on suspicions, without factual evidence.

"Our finding is that the appeal is merited, we find that the prosecution did not prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt, we allow the appeal, quash the conviction, set aside the sentence and order that the appellant is hereby set at liberty forthwith unless otherwise lawfully held," court ordered.