KENYA: GUARD RICHARD MUTAI SENTENCED TO DEATH OVER MURDER

June 18, 2022:

A 34-year-old Kenyan night guard has been sentenced to death over the killing of another man following an altercation between them, MaraviPost reported on 14 June 2022.
The Kericho High court judge, Justice Asenath Ongeri passed the verdict after finding the convict guilty of murdering the victim at Kabianga trading center in Belgut constituency.
According to Citizen Digital, the convict, Richard Kiprotich Mutai, alongside his three colleagues found the victim, Erick Kipkemoi Ngetich, sleeping inside a grocery shop on the night of 16 July 2017 after the colleagues alerted him that the grocery stall had been broken into.
Prior to the murder, the convict asked the deceased to produce his ID and he responded that it was with his employer before he was slapped by the convict while being interrogated.
Reports indicate that the convict used a knife to hit the deceased on the head before he stood up an attempt to escape.
The convict then used a bow and an arrow on the deceased while he was kneeling to plead with the convict claiming that he was drunk and had fallen asleep in the grocery adding that he was harmless and had not stolen anything before.
The convict then released an arrow aimed at the deceased’s back after he failed to listen to his plea before the deceased fell on his back landing to his death.
Postmortem results indicated that the death was a result of massive internal and external bleeding as a result of a sharp object and sharp cut wound in the neck.
In his defense, the accused claimed that he committed the offence while under the influence of alcohol and did not intend to kill the deceased.