A Kitale Court on Wednesday, January 4, sentenced a 24-year-old man to 90 years imprisonment after he was found guilty of murdering his employer in 2020.
According to a statement from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP), evidence gathered by the prosecution established that the man violently robbed his employer, a Swedish national, before killing her in an act that occurred in Kitale's Milimani Estate.
Further, the prosecution side revealed that the aforementioned suspect executed the act with the aid of a young man who was also charged with the murder.
Chief Magistrate Julius Ng'arng'ar ruled that the man was guilty and thus warranted the sentence to serve as a deterrent measure.
"The sentence is meant to be deterrent, retributive and rehabilitative, taking into account the brutality used to commit the offence," the magistrate ruled.
The sentencing of the main suspect's co-accused was initially deferred pending his age assessment.
However, the prosecution confirmed that the duo deserved a maximum sentence since it is a capital offence, so as to act as deterrence and a lesson to others.
Until her death, the woman managed a children's home and conducted charity work in Milimani Estate, Kitale.
A key witness in the case told the court that she was reporting to work at the Swedish woman's home, only to find the doors open and the body of her lifeless employer lying in the garage.
She alerted the police who in turn launched a probe into the brutal murder.
After investigations, detectives matched the swabs collected from the deceased with the first accused person's samples.
The detectives also recovered the money stolen in the incident, giving the prosecution proof of his link to the murder.
