A convict of Kamiti Maximum Prison has been found guilty of killing two of his fellow inmates who refused to sing for him a hymn.
Christopher Njoroge Mumbo was found guilty by Lady Justice Hedwig Ong’udi of the crime which he committed in the prison’s hospital ward in 2012.
The judge, however, spared him the death penalty on the basis that he was mentally unstable.
“There is a probability that he was mentally unstable when he committed the offence. I, therefore, make a special finding that he is guilty of murder but was insane at the time and I leave his fate at the mercy of the President,” Justice Ong’udi ruled.
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She also added that attacking the inmates while ordering them to sing was not a typical behaviour for a normal person.
The judge also noted that the prosecution failed to prove that the suspect was mentally stable at the time.
According to the prosecution, Njoroge, armed with a piece of wood and nails, ordered the inmates who were with him in the infirmary to sing the ‘Hallelujah’ hymn song.
Out of fear, some inmates started singing but Ibrahim Aden and Julius Kimani refused to, prompting Njoroge to attack them with the piece of wood.
The wardens found the two unconscious and later died on the way to the hospital.
Njoroge told the court that during the incident, he was suffering from cerebral malaria and only became aware of his actions when wardens informed him that he was to be charged with murder.
The convict was serving a death sentence after he was found guilty of violently robbing a shopkeeper in 2007.
[caption caption="File image of Shimo la Tewa Prison"]
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