Prime murder suspect now tells courts to sentence him

Drama played out in a virtual court session yesterday after the prime suspect in the murder of 24-year-old Catherine Nyokabi asked the magistrate to sentence him immediately so that he can start his jail term.

Thika Senior Resident Magistrate Oscar Wanyaga had asked Evans Karani, 38, whether he had any objections to his 14 days’ custodial orders, a Miscellaneous Application made by the investigating officers.

In response, Karani retorted that he wanted to start his jail term immediately.

“I have understood the application and I am asking whether you can make your ruling so that I can start my jail term early enough,” he told the court.

Wanyaga, however, declined the request, saying it was too early to make a ruling before the formal court processes.

Magistrate instead allowed police to continue detaining him at Juja Police Station to complete their probe and ordered that he be re-arraigned on May 3.

Investigating officer, Jairus Mbondo, told the court that investigators are yet to conduct a postmortem on the body of the slain woman and are yet to take the suspect for mental assessment.

Further, Mbondo told the court that police intend to record statements from crucial witnesses and are yet to compile the police file and forward it to the Director of Public Prosecutions for perusal and advice.

Current stage 

He said that releasing the respondent at the current stage might interfere with their investigations and witnesses.

“We require ample time to as well obtain communication data and analyse the same to confirm whether other suspects were involved,” Mbondo told the court yesterday.

Karani, a sand seller was arrested at Githurai Kimbo area on Friday last week in connection to the murder which occurred at Ndarugu area of Witeithie in Juja, Kiambu County.

Preliminary investigations have established that Karani was the boyfriend of Nyokabi, a mother of one and were on board the suspect’s vehicle, which is believed to have been used in ferrying  the deceased from Kahawa Wendani to Ndarugo where the murder occurred.

Nyokabi’s mutilated body was discovered in unoccupied land by good Samaritans, who reported the matter to police who visited the scene and collected it.

“The badly mutilated body of the woman had bruises on the face and head and was found lying in an open field by residents who alerted the police,” an officer told People Daily yesterday.

 Police say the body had multiple injuries. Suspect is believed to have doused her girlfriend’s body with some unknown chemical after killing her.

 After his arrest, the suspect told police that his girlfriend, an hotelier in Kahawa Wendani, was his secret lover and had for the last two weeks had irreconcilable differences. 

Karani’s outburst during yesterday’s hearing could be informed by his concern about sluggish and lengthy trials or fears that the weight of evidence against him would convict him.

Karani had last week dared police to shoot him so that he could “join the late Nyokabi wherever she was.” He had also confessed to the killing and even directed police to the crime scene.

Possible scenarios

Detectives are now dealing with two possible scenarios, one, that the suspect knows that there is an unlikely chance of acquittal or, two that he could be mentally disturbed.

By the time he was being arraigned yesterday, he had not been subjected to a mental assessment.

In some cases, pleading guilty, which waives the suspect’s rights, may lead to reduced charge or a favourable sentence. But in the case of Karani, the tone, demeanour and choice of language did not indicate any remorse.

Concerns have been raised on the long time cases take before they are concluded. However, in one of the rulings early this year, Justice George Odunga ruled: “It is mandatory that the period which an accused person has been held in custody prior to being sentenced must be taken into account.”