Former United States International University-Africa (USIU-Africa) student Duncan Livingstone Kimathi has been sentenced to death for the abduction and murder of fellow student Sarah Akello Aruwa, bringing to a close a case that has remained in court for more than 14 years.
The sentence follows his conviction by High Court Judge Kanyi Kimondo, who found that Kimathi lured, abducted and later murdered the final-year USIU -Africa International Relations student between June 30 and July 1, 2012.
How USIU Student Sarah Akello Was Lured and Abducted
According to court records, Akello disappeared after telling a friend she was going to meet a man she had previously met at the university library. Instead, she was abducted, triggering ransom demands to her family and loved ones.
The prosecution, led by Principal Prosecution Counsel Millicent Kigira, called 17 witnesses during the trial to establish the events surrounding the abduction, ransom demands and killing.
According to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, the evidence presented proved that Kimathi and his accomplices lured the student before abducting her and demanding money from her family.
Akello’s mother, Hellen Atieno Aruwa, testified that a man called her using the victim’s mobile phone and demanded Ksh100,000 for her release.
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Following negotiations, the amount was reduced to Ksh70,000 before the matter was reported to Kasarani Police Station.
Her boyfriend, Duncan Okore, also told the court that when he attempted to contact her on July 1, 2012, the call was answered by a man who demanded Ksh100,000 ransom.
Court proceedings further revealed that messages were sent threatening to kill her if the money was not paid.
Phone Records and Forensic Evidence Linked Kimathi to Murder
Investigators recovered a notebook from Akello’s house after relatives and police officers broke into her locked residence in search of clues.
In the notebook, she had written that she was going to meet a person identified as Daniel Muriithi and recorded two telephone numbers.
Evidence presented in court showed that one of the numbers was linked to Kimathi.
Safaricom call data records produced during the trial indicated that the line was registered in his name.
The court found that the identity of Daniel Muriithi had been used to lure the victim into a trap.
The prosecution also produced evidence showing that Kimathi hired a Toyota saloon car on June 30, 2012.
A witness from the car hire company testified that the vehicle’s tracking system placed it in the Ngewa area of Kiambu County, where the victim’s body was later discovered.
Police officers told the court that Akello’s body was found in a thicket at Ndithiati Village in Ngewa after herdsmen alerted authorities.
A postmortem examination conducted by government pathologist Johansen Oduor established that the USIU-Africa student had suffered bruises on the neck, a laceration at the back of the head and signs of oxygen deprivation.
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The cause of death was determined to be neck compression through manual strangulation.
Further investigations led officers to a house in Savannah linked to Kimathi’s girlfriend, Winnie Wairimu Kariuki.
There, investigators recovered a bra, panties, and a blood-stained blouse that relatives identified as belonging to Akello. DNA analysis confirmed the items belonged to the deceased.
In his judgment, Justice Kimondo concluded that Kimathi had access to the university, lured the student using false identities and participated in a premeditated plan to abduct her for ransom before killing her.
The judge found that the murder was committed with malice aforethought and that the prosecution had proved the case beyond reasonable doubt.
Kimathi was consequently convicted of murder contrary to Section 203 as read with Section 204 of the Penal Code and has now been sentenced to death.
His co-accused absconded after being released on bail, and the trial proceeded in her absence.
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