The Kisumu Court of appeal has rejected a petition by seven murder convicts to have their death sentences re-looked into.
The seven had been slapped with the sentence by the Homa Bay High Court after being found guilty of killing two fishermen; Lamech Olima Ochieng and Felix Ouma Odhiambo in Dholunga Beach in Suba, Homa Bay County in 2010.
The court was told that they speared and stoned the dead in the process of robbing them, after Olima and Odhiambo refused hand over their catch and money as the group had demanded.
Six of the seven; Tilleny Odhiambo, William Ayugi, David Ongata, Silas Onyango, Peter Otieno and Tiberius Odonda appeared in court for the appeal ruling, while the seventh one did not.
However, the three judge bench of Justices Patrick Kiage, Asike Makhandia and Otieno Odek upheld the earlier ruling, dismissing the convicts' grounds that the sentence was excessive.
The bench also said that the 15 witnesses who testified in the case proved beyond doubt that they were guilty, while the six argued that the witnesses gave conflicting testimonies.
"15 prosecution witnesses including nine eyewitnesses who testified against them at the lower courts have pointed an accusing finger against them during this trial,” read the ruling, according to the citizen digital.
The judges also rubbished their claims that their defence evidence was not considered.