Student who confessed to killing priest to be sentenced Thursday

Michael Mutunga

Michael Muthini Mutunga (right), the prime suspect in the murder of Catholic priest Fr Maingi Kyengo, is escorted to prison to court in Embu on June 11, 2021.

Photo credit: George Munene | Nation Media Group

A college student who admitted hacking a Catholic priest, Father Michael Kyengo, to death will be sentenced on Thursday.

This comes weeks after a shocking revelation at the Embu High Court when Mr Michael Muthini, 26, revealed how he slashed the priest to death for allegedly sexually abusing him and in the process, infecting him with HIV.

Mr Muthini claimed that the priest drugged him before molesting him overnight in a rented house in Mbeere South Sub-County.

On Tuesday, Embu High Court Judge Lucy Njuguna ruled that his sentencing be pushed to Thursday when she will deliver her verdict against him after perusing a probation report. She observed that the report is yet to be filed in court. 

Mr Muthini had been charged that on the night of October 8 and 9, 2019, at Makima area in Mbeere South, Embu County he murdered the priest jointly with two other people in court.

Father Kyengo, 43, was on leave when he met his death which sent shockwaves across the entire Machakos Catholic diocese where he served.

The priest was later found buried in a shallow grave on the banks of Mashamba seasonal river.

father Michael Kyengo

Shocked residents of Mashamba village in Embu County where the body of a Catholic priest, Michael Kyengo, 43, was found on October 16, 2019.

Photo credit: File | George Munene | Nation Media Group

While pleading guilty to a capital offence, he told the court how he slashed the priest’s neck with a panga, killing him on the spot before stashing him in a plastic bag.

He then put the slain priest in the boot of a car and took him to the bank of the river and buried him.

Mr Muthini said he acted out of anger after the priest took advantage of him and pleaded with court to have mercy upon him as he was ready to reform.