Four acquitted in Kenya couple’s murder case — Nation Kenya
The High Court in Nyamira, Kenya, acquitted four defendants in the case concerning the murder of Edward Morema Nyagechi and his wife, Grace Mongina Morema. Judge Tripsisa Cherere Wamae ruled that the prosecution had not provided sufficient evidence of the defendants’ involvement in the crime, Nation Kenya reports.
The couple, who were naturalized US citizens and lived in Minneapolis, were in Kenya in March 2023. Their bodies were found on March 21, 2023, in a fortified house in Nyamakakoroto, Nyamira County. Neighbors entered the home when the couple did not appear during their usual morning routine.
Charges in the case
Ezekiel Mogeni Migiro, Peris Ondaru, Dennis Ondaru Clement and Peter Njoroge Kiriku were charged with two counts of murder. According to the prosecution, the attack was planned and the suspects had different roles. The prosecution presented testimony from 17 witnesses.
It referred to an alleged revenge motive for the first defendant, family and inheritance disputes, mobile phone location data, device transactions, transfers from the couple’s mobile money accounts, bank camera footage and a recovered firearm. The prosecution also sought to prove the suspects’ common intent.
More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram.
Court findings
The judge found that the couple had been unlawfully killed with malice aforethought, but the prosecution had not proved the involvement of any of the four defendants in the crime. The court considered the identification evidence concerning the first defendant unreliable, while evidence of family conflicts and threats did not prove the second defendant’s involvement.
Phone records and the recovered weapon, the court concluded, did not link the third defendant to the murder. Device transactions, money transfers and ATM footage also did not make it possible to reliably identify the fourth defendant as a participant in the crime. The body of circumstantial evidence raised suspicions but did not form an unbroken chain proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Family lawyer Wilkins Ochochi said the victims’ relatives were disappointed by the decision. According to him, they intend to engage with Kenya’s Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions regarding filing an appeal.
