Ex-AP jailed for 45 years for killing lover in macabre attack

A former Administration Police officer who brutally murdered his lover by defiling her with a machete eight years ago has been sentenced to 45 years in prison by a Meru court.

Justice Edward Muriithi ruled that evidence indicated that Kenneth Muthomi Mbaya intended to kill Susan Kathambi Magaju when he committed the heinous act in Buurie King’ori area of Imenti Central.

Kathambi’s half-naked body was found lying on her bed on March 17, 2015, with visible injuries on her face and blood oozing from her private parts.

During the post-mortem, pathologists at the Meru Level Five Hospital retrieved a machete from her genitals and said it had caused her death.

Two witnesses testified that Muthomi was the last person to be seen with the deceased on March 14, 2015, the day she is thought to have met her gruesome death.

Mr Samson Muriungi and his wife Janet Kanyiri told the court that they saw the two attending a church crusade at Uuku market and went back home at about 9pm.

They testified that the two lived together in the deceased’s house as boyfriend and girlfriend.

Mr Magaju M’Ituma, Kathambi’s father, said the family became concerned after they did not see her for three days yet the door to her house was locked from the outside.

He gathered family members and when they opened the door, they made the gruesome discovery.

During the hearing, Cpl (Rtd) Tarcisio Kagunda, who investigated the murder, said they found Muthomi’s clothing and personal items like a medical card, receipt and a prescription note bearing his name.

The witness also tabled six gory pictures illustrating the injuries Kathambi suffered.

“When doing the postmortem a panga was recovered from the deceased’s private parts. I took it as an exhibit believing it to be the murder weapon… It was very traumatising to witness the panga being removed,” he recounted. 

The officer said they treated Muthomi as a suspect because had gone into hiding following the incident and did not attend the burial.

He was arrested three months later when he visited the village and did not inquire about Kathambi’s whereabouts.

Principal Prosecution Counsel Eric Masila urged the court to mete out a custodial sentence, pointing out that the crime he had committed was serious and that the accused had fled the scene.

“The victim left two children who currently do not have a mother to cater for them. The accused was an employed Administration Police officer but lost his job for drunkenness…He deserves a custodial sentence, all circumstances considered,” appealed Mr Masila.

In mitigation, Muthomi said he was remorseful and had reconciled with the family of the victim and there was no acrimony between them.

Will get married

“I pledge that I shall restart my life if the court grants me the opportunity. I will get married and go on with life,” he told the court.

The probation officer’s report said the accused, who is now a farmer, was taking prescription drugs and his health deteriorated further while in custody.

The report noted that the offender committed the offence when he was 31 years old while the deceased was 52 and they had lived together for two years.

The deceased is survived by two children who were grown up at the time the offence was committed and they were living in Chuka where she was initially married.

However, Justice Muriithi scoffed at Muthomi’s prayer for a non-custodial sentence so that he could remarry and ruled that he deserved a sentence that would help treat and mellow his vicious temperament.

“The court must deprecate the monstrous killing, for whatever justification, of the deceased by a person in the position of her boyfriend...” the judge ruled.

“If there ever were a textbook situation suitable for the imposition of the death sentence, it would be this incident of callous killing of a lover by penetration into her private parts with a panga in an act smacking with obvious disdain, hatred and inhuman treatment.”

“No person should have to suffer such indignity of death at the hands of a lover in such cruel and degrading assault,” declared the judge.  

Justice Muriithi explained that the 45-year imprisonment would be reduced to 30 actual prison custody due to one-third remission under section 46 of the Prisons Act.

“At 40 years, a prison term of 30 years actual custody, so that the accused is released at 70 years of age when he can still usefully impart his penal lesson to others in the interest of deterrence, meets the justice of the case,” ruled the judge.

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