Former USIU-Africa student sentenced to death for 2012 murder

Former United States International University-Africa (USIU-Africa) student Duncan Livingstone Kimathi has been sentenced to death for the 2012 murder of fellow student Sarah Akello Aruwa following her abduction and a Sh100,000 ransom demand.

Justice Kanyi Kimondo on Thursday sentenced the 37-year-old after finding him guilty of murdering Akello between June 30 and July 1, 2012, in the Kiamako area of Githunguri, Kiambu County.

The court heard that Akello, a final-year International Relations student, disappeared after telling a friend she was going to meet a man she had previously encountered at the university library.

Her abductors later contacted her family and demanded Sh100,000 for her release. Her mother, Hellen Atieno Aruwa, told the court that a man called her using her daughter's phone to demand the ransom.

She negotiated the amount down to Sh70,000 before reporting the matter at Kasarani Police Station.

Akello's boyfriend also testified that a man answered her phone when he tried reaching her and demanded that Sh100,000 be sent to her mobile money account.

The court found that Kimathi and his accomplices had lured Akello into a trap before abducting and killing her. Although Akello had recorded the name Daniel Muriithi and his telephone contact in her notebook, the court established that Kimathi did not know him and found that the identity had been used as part of the plan to lure her.

Investigations also led to the recovery of Akello's underwear and a blood-stained top from a house in Savannah where Kimathi's girlfriend, Wairimu, lived.

A postmortem examination established that Akello had suffered a laceration at the back of her head and bruises on her neck. The cause of death was determined to be manual strangulation.

In his judgment, Justice Kimondo found that the killing involved malice aforethought, noting that Akello had been deliberately lured for abduction and ransom before being murdered.

The prosecution, led by Millicent Kigira, called 17 witnesses during the trial.

Kimathi was convicted of murder under Sections 203 and 204 of the Penal Code and sentenced to death.