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Judge left in shock after husband killer sneaks from court


A woman on Wednesday morning mysteriously disappeared from court moments after she was convicted of murdering her husband in Kisumu.

Martha Auma Nyagol was found guilty of murdering her husband Mr Jared Ochieng Otieno on the night of 26th and 27th May 2014 at Kanyakwar Village in Kisumu County.

She was found guilty by High Court Judge Justice David Majanja of strangling the deceased thereby occasioning his death.

Mrs Nyagol had attended court for her judgement which was scheduled to be delivered in the morning.

Justice Majanja, after delivering his judgement, cancelled her bond and ordered that she be held in custody as she awaited her sentencing in April 11.

WALKED AWAY

But after a brief talk with the prison warden who was in court, the woman walked away.

The judge, who was  handling another case, raised concern when he noticed that his orders were not followed.

“I thought I had convicted the woman and ordered that she be in custody, where has she gone to?” posed the judge before he sent a court clerk to check outside whether the woman was there.

Justice Majanja was forced to adjourn the court in what he termed a security breach.

After word went round that the woman had disappeared, the prison wardens started running up and down trying to establish the whereabouts of the convicted woman.

While delivering the judgement, Justice Majanja had found that according to witnesses, the late Mr Ochieng had been having matrimonial problems with Mrs Nyagol which would have led her to murder the deceased.

“On my evaluation of the evidence, I find and hold that the accused was alone in the house on the material night when on her own admission, she strangled the deceased,” said Justice Majanja.

He added: “The act of strangling a person is cold, calculated and deliberate. It is intended to cause death and accordingly constitutes malice aforethought.”

UNDER COMPULSION

The court rejected Mrs Nyagol’s defense that she was under compulsion when she strangled the deceased, with the judge stating that she may have indeed had the assistance of the three assailants she referred to.

The accused had claimed that as the deceased went to the bathroom to take a bath, she saw three masked men entering the house. One of the men who held a gun went to where she was and ordered her to keep mum.

He later took their phones, switched them off while the other two men dragged the deceased out of the bathroom naked and brought him to the corridor.

Mrs Nyagol had claimed that the men placed a white belt around the deceased neck and ordered her at gunpoint to pull the belt until the deceased was lifeless.

Speaking to the Daily Nation, the Deputy Registrar Mrs Pauline Mbulika said she had reported the matter to the police who have since launched investigations and manhunt for the woman.

“This is the first incident of this nature to happen in our courts in Kisumu. The suspect is being sought,” said Mrs Mbulika.