Lady Justice Grace Nzioka has postponed the sentencing of Joseph Irungu alias Jowie who was found guilty for the murder of Nairobi businesswoman Monica Kimani.
The judge made the decision owing to the late filing of submissions by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP), the victim's family and Jowie's lawyer.
According to Justice Nzioka, the ODPP filed its submissions (pre-sentencing report) last evening while the victim's family filed its submissions on Friday morning.
Therefore, owing to the delays, Jowie's legal team did not have time to respond to the submissions by the prosecution and Kimani's family.
In light of the new developments, Jowie's legal team requested more time to go through the two submissions and file their response.
Justice Nzioka heeded to their request and directed that they file all the submissions by the end of Monday, March 11.
Jowies sentencing will be done on Wednesday, March 13.
"As much as I started with a disclaimer on how I am not the one accused of adjourning this matter, I think at the end of the day I am the driver of this matter and the most decent thing to do is to apologise for any inconvenience caused.
"I hope we will not adjourn it again and that we will deal with this matter to its finality on the day that I have fixed for this judgement," she stated.
The Case
Jowie was found guilty for the murder of Monica Kimani which occurred on September 19, 2018.
In a ruling delivered on February 9, 2024, Justice Grace Nzioka ruled that the prosecution had proved beyond reasonable doubt that the security personnel committed the murder.
The judge highlighted several aspects of the case that made her determine that Jowie was guilty.
Key among them was the actions of Jowie before and after the murder. It was revealed that Jowie used another person's identity card to access the apartments of Kimani on the fateful day. The judge noted that this action suggested that Jowie planned to commit the offence
The security personnel was also the last person to be seen with the deceased in her house.
"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," Justice Nzioka stated.
Further, forensic analysis of blood stains found in Jowie's shorts confirmed that the blood belonged to the deceased.
Jowie had been charged alongside his ex-fiance, Former Citizen TV anchor Jacque Maribe. Maribe was found not guilty.
