Kericho court sentences two men to death for violent robbery

Bureti, Monday, May 29, 2023

KNA by Sarah Njagi

A Kericho Court has sentenced two men to death for their involvement in a violent robbery in which former Rai Cement Factory General Manager Chetan Vyas was killed.

Kericho Chief Magistrate Charles Obulutsa while passing the sentence against Julius Jowi Odundo, 38, and Joseph Weru Muthithi, 38, said the prosecution had proved beyond reasonable doubt that the duo were at the scene of the heinous crime.

The prosecution had lined up nine witnesses who gave corroborating evidence against the two accused persons.

Odundo and Muthithi are said to have committed the offence on 23 September 2019 at Rai Cement Company Limited, Kipsitet area in Soin/Sigowet sub-county within Kericho County, jointly armed with dangerous weapons, a knife and axe, robbed and killed Chetan Vyas of his mobile phone paired with Safaricom and Airtel simcards, an iron box, cash Sh3,550, one Chinese Yuan, nine Indian rupees, 200 American dollars and four suitcases with assorted items of unknown value.

The court was told that an accomplice in the robbery Stephen Ndolo who opted to enter a plea bargain when confronted with evidence was convicted to a jail term of ten years and became a state witness.

The court heard that the second accused person, Muthithi was an employee of the Cement factory and had previously worked with the accomplice Ndolo only to meet him again in 2019. Muthithi asked Ndolo to join him in taking money from the company which he said was about Sh10 million and he then informed the first accused person for deliberations on how to accomplish their mission.

The accused persons gained entry into the guest house where the deceased person was residing using a ladder to climb to the roof, removing tiles and cutting the iron sheet to gain entry where they disabled CCTV cameras, leaving one which captured their movements in the sitting room at around 1.30am on the fateful day.

The court further heard that they entered the bedroom of the guest house wearing marvin hats/hoods where they found the victim whom they violently attacked with a knife and axe before robbing him of currency of different denominations kept in a drawer. The accused persons did not get the money they expected but took away other items like an iron box, black suitcase, black laptop bag and cables. 

A witness testified to the court that on entering the house whose door was open he found it splattered with blood and the general manager was dead. His hands and legs had been tied using a manila rope with the room appearing ransacked with several items scattered on the floor.

A postmortem report by Doctor Eddy Owour from Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital dated September 23, 2019 tabled before the court as evidence in the case revealed the cause of death was severe head injury with maxillary fracture and intracranial bleeding secondary to blunt force trauma.

The first accused person, Julius Jowi Odundo had in his defense while on oath told the court that on 21 September 2019 he was working at the cement factory but on contract basis where he was fixing mosquito net doors at the guest house and had started the work on 30 August 2019 and had not completed the task when he was arrested on 25 September 2019 adding that on 22 September 2019 he was at a lodging with his girlfriend when he was arrested at Agoro market.

The second accused person, Joseph Weru Muthithi, a mason said on 22 September 2019 he was at Njoro with a colleague making bricks and they went to Awasi to seek an order for bricks and after discussions with a client he returned back that evening denying that he was seen with the first accused person from the CCTV footage.

A probation report tabled before the court stated the two accused persons were not remorseful for the offence they committed and were not suitable for a non-custodial sentence.

Chief Magistrate Obulutsa found the duo guilty of the charge observing that apparent violence was used on the deceased by the accused persons.

“The axe which the second accused person had as seen in the CCTV footage and recovered in his house matched the DNA of the deceased. The axe was used to hit him on the head causing the head injury which led to his death. Having analyzed the prosecution case, defense case, written submissions and authorities cited by the accused persons, the court is satisfied that the prosecution has proved the charge beyond reasonable doubt. The accused are found guilty and convicted accordingly. ” said Obulutsa.

The court reminded the accused of their right to appeal the sentence within 14 days if dissatisfied.

The matter was investigated by a multi-agency team comprising of the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), Cyber Crime Unit and Homicide and the National Police Service. 

Courtesy ; K. N. A