Nyeri court jails for life man who killed wife, raped 11-year-old daughter
James Wahome Githinji when he appeared in a Nyeri court on April 5, 2016 where he was charged with killing his wife and raping his step-daughter in 2011. Senior Principal Magistrate Christine Wekesa sentenced him to life imprisonment. PHOTO | FAITH NYAMAI | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- The girl had testified that she was alone in the house with her step-father on the fateful day.
- He removed her clothes and defiled her for a period of two hours, she said.
- Githinji presented himself to the Othaya Police Station on May 12, 2015 where he confessed to having committed the crimes.
- In his defence, Githinji denied presenting himself to the police and denied committing the offence.
A man has been sentenced to a life imprisonment for killing his wife and defiling his 11-year-old step-daughter before he went into hiding for four years.
Senior Principal Magistrate Christine Wekesa found James Wahome Githinji guilty of the offence, saying that the evidence presented by prosecution witnesses was convincing.
“Coupled with incidences alluded, the court has concluded that the accused person committed the offences and, therefore, I sentence him to serve a life imprisonment as provided by the law,” said Ms Wekesa.
Githinji was charged that he committed the crimes inside his house on the night of October 19 and 20, 2011 in Mweiga Village, Nyeri and then disappeared.
The prosecution, led by State counsel Allan Wanjohi, said that Mr Githinji also infected the step-daughter with HIV.
The girl had testified that she was alone in the house with her step-father on the fateful day.
He removed her clothes and defiled her for a period of two hours, she said.
She screamed but the mother did not come to help her.
FOUND MOTHER DEAD
After defiling her the father escaped. She then went into her mother’s bedroom only to find her body lying lifeless.
She informed their neighbours what had happened and then went to her grandmother to whom she narrated the whole incidence.
Evidence by the investigating officer, Police Constable Evans Amuga, was that Githinji presented himself to the Othaya Police Station on May 12, 2015 where he confessed to having committed the crimes.
Mr Muga said that the police officers in Othaya remanded Mr Githinji until the following day when he was interrogated.
He then accompanied Githinji to the village where the alleged crimes were committed.
But on arrival, they found the house had been demolished and his children had gone to live with their grandmother because they did not have anyone to take care of them.
Mr Amuga also testified that Githinji told the police that when he discovered that he had contracted HIV after visiting a clinic for tests, he concluded that it was his wife, Ms Jane Nyambura Mwangi, who had infected him, so he decided to kill her and defiled the daughter so that she could also be infected.
In his defence, Githinji denied presenting himself to the police and denied committing the offence.
