Monica Kimani murder case: Jowie Irungu found guilty, Jacque Maribe acquitted

Joseph Irungu alias Jowie has been found guilty of the murder of businesswoman Monica Kimani on the night of September 19, 2018, while his co-accused Jacque Maribe has been acquitted.

Delivering her verdict on Friday, Justice Grace Nzioka noted that the prosecution proved beyond reasonable doubt that Irungu killed Kimani and that there was no evidence that Maribe communicated with her or was at her house on the night of the murder.

The court cancelled Irungu's bond and said he will remain in prison until he is sentenced on March 8, 2024.

However, Irungu's lawyer Hassan Nandwa says he will appeal the verdict.

Justice Grace Nzioka had raised six issues for determination:

1. Whether Irungu knew Monica before her death

2. Whether he stole an ID and used it to access Kimani's house

3. Whether the clothes he was wearing implicated him in the murder

4. Whether he was in Kimani's house and if he was the last person seen with her

5. Whether he had a gun

6. Whether he was positively identified in an identification parade

On the first issue, Justice Nzioka dismissed Irungu's claim that he did not know Kimani as "untenable, insincere, an afterthought and false", adding that the court found he lied about this.

"They (Kimani and Irungú) were together at Kenya Polytechnic. They were in the same class and taking the same course. It is the finding of this court that Jowie was known to Monica before her death," Nzioka said.

On the second issue, Justice Grace Nzioka said one Dominic Bisera lost his identity card on September 17, 2018, when he went to Royal Park Estate to look for casual work.

"There is evidence that the person who went to the deceased's house on September 19, 2018, produced an ID in the name of Dominic Bisera. A witness identified the first accused person on the parade as Dominic Bisera."

On the third issue, Justice Nzioka said Pamela, the first accused's house help, stated that when Jowie left the house on September 19, 2018, he was wearing a white T-shirt with patterns, a maroon cap and brown shorts.

"A gentleman named Jennings stated he met with the first accused on September 19 and was wearing a T-shirt, brown shorts and a maroon cap. There is collaborative evidence as to the clothes which the first accused was wearing on the material date."

Jacque Maribe and Joseph Irung'u during the hearing of their verdict at the Milimani Law Courts on February 9, 2024. (Screengrab)

On the fourth issue, the court determined that Irungu was the last person seen with Kimani, while on the fifth issue, it found that he had a gun on the day Kimani was killed and that it was used to subdue her.

"I'm in concurrence with the prosecution that the gun was intended and used for the purpose of subduing Monica," the judge said.

However, on the sixth issue, Justice Nzioka dismissed the findings of the identification parade in which Irungu was positively identified.

"We don't find the first accused person guilty of the offence he is being charged with based purely on the evidence of the identification parade per se," she said, ruling that the identification parade was flawed.

The ruling came on Friday after being postponed three times. It had been scheduled for March 15 but was pushed forward following consent by the parties.

"This judgment was supposed to be delivered next month but in the interest of justice, I brought it forward," Justice Nzioka said.

The last adjournment came on January 26 after Maribe failed to appear in court due to illness.

Kimani’s body was found at her Lamuria Gardens Apartments on Kitale Lane off Denis Pritt Road in Kilimani. The prosecution called 35 witnesses.