The hearing of a murder case against a man nicknamed the “Naivasha vampire” has failed to take off before the High Court in Nakuru.
Godfrey Matheri alias Fongo, appeared before judge Anyara Emukhule, who expressed dissatisfaction in the way the prosecution was handling the case. Emukhule noted that the suspect has been in custody for more than five years yet very little progress has been made on the case. He blamed the State Counsel for delaying justice, saying more should have been done in the five-year trial period.
“Eighty four percent of the cases delayed are caused by counsels, 14 percent by the prosecution while four percent is caused by the judges and magistrates,” he noted.
However, the State Counsel was quick to defend themselves, saying that two of the witnesses had been deployed to Garissa and Mpeketoni over security matters.
Matheri is facing trial for the murder of Naomi Wairimu, a crime allegedly committed on unknown dates in August, 2008. He was nicknamed the 'vampire' after his alleged victims, mostly female, claimed that he had been sucking blood from their bodies after kidnapping them.
In November last year, Matheri was found guilty by a Naivasha court of kidnap charges and was consequently jailed for four years. However, when the murder case against him came up for hearing, the state counsel told the judge that the prosecution was ready to proceed with the case and had already lined up witnesses to testify against him.
The case continues when more witnesses are set to avail themselves.