Human Rights Law and order Regional

Kenyan guard Richard Mutai sentenced to death over murder

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KERICHO-(MaraviPost)-A 34-year-old Kenyan night guard has been sentenced to death over the killing of another man following an altercation between them.

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.

Death sentence

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 July 16, 2017 after the colleagues alerted him that the grocery stall had been broken into.

Prior to the gruesome 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.

Capital punishment is still legal penalty in Kenya despite the country not being able to carry out executions since 1987.

Meanwhile, thousands convicts are on death row while some others continue to be sentenced to death despite the country not being able to carry out the punishment.

Angella Semu

I hold a Bachelor of science degree in Agriculture Development Communication that I obtained from Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources. I previously worked with The Nation Publications Limited since 2018 before joining The Maravi post particularly on Agriculture Desk as an intern before I became a correspondent. Currently I am reporting for The Maravi Post mainly in International News and locally in the Southern region of Malawi.