Date with destiny: Maribe, Jowie to know fate today
Former TV journalist Jacque Maribe and Joseph Kuria Irungu alias Jowie at the Milimani Court in Nairobi on Monday, October 15, 2018. Inset: The late businesswoman Monica Kimani.
What you need to know:
- The judge postponed the decision on January 26 after Ms Maribe failed to appear in court after falling sick.
- The adjournment was the third in a row after it was adjourned on October 6 and December 15, last year.
The judgement against former TV anchor Jacque Maribe and her ex-fiancé Joseph Irungu aka Jowie will be delivered Friday morning after being postponed on three occasions.
High Court judge Grace Nzioka brought the decision forward after indicating last month that she would deliver the judgment on March 15.
The judge postponed the decision on January 26 after Ms Maribe failed to appear in court after falling sick.
The adjournment was the third in a row after it was adjourned on October 6 and December 15, last year.
Ms Maribe and Mr Irungu have been charged with the murder of businesswoman Monicah Kimani, an offence they allegedly committed on the night of September 19, 2018.
The 28-year-old businesswoman had arrived in the country on the fateful Wednesday from South Sudan and checked into her Lamuria Garden Apartment.
The prosecution informed the court that the woman landed at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) at around 6 pm, from Juba where she was running a family business. She immediately called her brother George Kimani, informing her of her arrival.
She was picked up by Mr John Otieno, a taxi driver who dropped her at Lamuria Garden Apartment and drove away.
Monicah was due to fly out to Dubai the following day, to meet Mr Nasser Mohammed, a Sudanese businessman.
Her lifeless body was discovered in a bathtub the following morning after her brother and a caretaker broke into the house.
George testified that she called his sister but she was not picking and the mobile phone eventually went off.
Worried that she might have flown to Dubai without their meeting, she visited the apartment late in the afternoon and contacted the caretaker- Mr Regan Buluku, who assisted him in breaking into the house.
Two days later, Mr Irungu shot and injured himself after getting into an argument with Ms Maribe, at the Royal Park apartment.
Ms Maribe and a neighbour- Mr Brian Kassaine later rushed him to the hospital where he was treated and discharged. They reported the incident at Lang’ata Police Station, claiming that Mr Irungu, also known as Jowie, had been shot by three thugs in the wee hours of the morning, as he entered the house.
He was arrested on Monday, September 24 and taken to Lang’ata police station after Maribe’s vehicle was traced through CCTV to Lamuria Gardens. The former TV anchor was later arrested before they were eventually charged with Monicah’s murder.
The prosecution through state counsel, Gikui Gichuhi urged the court to find the duo guilty of murder.
She said Mr Irungu was placed at the murder scene and was positively identified by witnesses. He later tried to conceal evidence by burning the clothes he was wearing on the fateful night.
The prosecutor added that the two gave false information to the police and Ms Maribe knew that her fiancé had a gun in the house but never bothered to tell the police. She also lied over Mr Irungu’s injury, the prosecution said.
Mr Katwa Kigen for Ms Maribe submitted that there was nothing linking her to the murder and she had no reason to eliminate the businesswoman.
