A woman was sentenced to life in prison for killing her step daughter in an attempt to win back her husband's love.
Elena Nyambura, was found guilty of the crime in which she conspired with her best friend, Peris Njeri, her brother Geoffrey Njuguna and his two friends; Kenneth Mureithi and Mr Anderson who escaped.
Justice Fred Ochieng found that Ms Nyambura used her accomplices to eliminate 8-year-old Sheila Wanjiku, on August 2, 2009 by hiring goons at Sh80,000 to execute the murder in Kariobangi, Nairobi.
“In a nutshell, Elenah conceived the idea to eliminate baby Sheila. She then enlisted the help of her own brother, whose role was to identify and recruit the killers. Meanwhile, Peris would point out the house to the killers,” Justice Ochieng said.
The killers reportedly raided the home in broad daylight and found Wanjiku with the house help. She was stabbed 10 times on her neck while the help was stabbed on her right hand. The house help luckily lived to testify in the case.
Ms Nyambura had confessed to police that she killed Wanjiku because she was a barrier between her and her husband Peter Kamau. She alleged that her husband treated her co-wife's child Wanjiku, better than he treated their son. Her co-wife, Eunice Nyawira, was once her employee but later got married to Mr Kamau and became his second wife.
Ms Nyambura's husband, Kamau, told the court that the accused confessed the crime to him after her arrest, blaming the devil for guiding her. He however, expressed shock on the matter, saying he was not aware of any animosity between his two wives.
