Former Citizen TV anchor Jacque Maribe has been acquitted in the murder of Nairobi businesswoman Monica Kimani.
While delivering her judgement on Friday, Lady Justice Grace Nzioka noted that there was no concrete evidence to prove that the former news anchor was involved in the murder which occurred in the September 19, 2018 incident.
Maribe had been charged alongside her former boyfriend Joseph Irungu alias Jowie who was found guilty of the offence.
"The evidence of the prosecution against the second accused person did not place her in the house of the deceased on the material night. There was no evidence that she had ever communicated with the deceased."
"The result is that the prosecution did not adduce any evidence for this court to find the second accused guilty of the offence of murder of Monica Nyawira Kimani on the night of September 19, 2018," she ruled.
However, in her opinion, Justice Nzioka opined that the prosecution preferred the wrong charge against the former journalist.
As detailed by the judge, the evidence against Maribe revolved around two different statements she made to the police regarding an alleged shooting incident which police claimed was aimed at misleading investigations into Kimani's murder.
Monica Kimani was found murdered at her apartment in Nairobi in September 2018. The businesswoman had just arrived in the country from South Sudan before she was found murdered in her bathtub.
After investigations were launched into the matter, police arrested Jowie with police accusing the security personnel of murdering the businesswoman.
According to the police, Jowie was among the last people to be with the businesswoman in her apartment.
10 days after the murder incident, Maribe was arrested by police, with the former journalist accused of taking part in the murder.
35 witnesses testified in the case that has been in court for over five years
Prosecution Accusations Against Maribe
During the five-year court case, the prosecution has six accusations against the journalist as detailed below;
1. She was in the vicinity of the commission of the murder.
2. The vehicle used in the commission of the offence was hers.
3. She aided and abetted the first accused person (Jowie) by providing the car.
4. She switched off her phone at the time of the murder.
5. She gave police false information regarding a shootout involving Jowie to mislead police investigations.
6. She was aware of the destruction of evidence which would have been used in the murder case.
Court's Findings on Maribe
"It is the finding of the court that the second accused person's statement made on the gun shooting was false," the judge ruled.
Jowie's Case
Joseph Irungu alias Jowie was found guilty of the murder of Nairobi businesswoman Monica Kimani which occurred in 2018.
While delivering her judgement on Friday, Justice Nzioka noted that the prosecution had proved to the court that the security personnel had committed the offence.
The court determined that Jowie (the first accused) indeed knew the deceased before her death. Jowie had told the court that he had never met or known the deceased.
However, based on the testimony of Kimani's brother and cell phone record, the Justice determined that Jowie had known the deceased before her death. Kimani's brother told the court that they spent a night at the deceased home on August 30, 2018.
"The 1st accused (Jowie Irungu) claimed he did not know the deceased at all. George Kimani, the deceased’s brother submitted that Jowie and Monica Kimani were in the same class in 2002 taking the same course in hotel and beverage management," the judge stated.
Regarding who was last seen with the deceased, the court agreed with the prosecution's evidence that the security personnel was the last person to be with the businesswoman before her death.
"When the Doctrine of Last Seen is applied, the law presumes that the person last seen with the deceased was responsible for their death, and the accused is supposed to present an explanation of what happened," she stated.
Similarly, Justice Nzioka agreed with the prosecution's aspersions that Jowie used a gun to intimidate the deceased before her death.
On the other hand, forensic evidence established that the blood stains on Jowie's shorts belonged to the businesswoman.
Cause of Monica Kimani's Death
There was an irregular inversive wound on the neck caused by a sharp object.
There were also bruises on the wrists of both legs.
According to the Court, the person who murdered the businesswoman had military-like training and intended instant death.
