A decade ago Esther Arunga was undoubtedly the most sought after media personality but the last ten years it has been a dramatic turn of events in the life of former KTN news anchor.
According to her former 'mentor', renowned jazz artist Joseph Hellon, Arunga's troubles started when she met Quincy Timberlake in early 2010.
They met at Hellon's Finger of God Church in Runda and those who knew Arunga before say she became a completely changed person after meeting the man who claimed to be very wealthy.
Within a span less than three months, Arunga resigned from KTN where she worked as a news anchor, got married to Quincy and they fled Kenya for Australia in March 2010.
In December the same year, Arunga gave birth to Sinclair Timberlake, the kid whose death may see her spend a quarter century in prison.
Sinclair died in July 2014 after his father punched in his stomach in an attempt to remove a "devil" that he believed was in it.
Arunga observed how her son suffered until death but she told police that he died after falling down the stairs.
Later she confessed it was Quincy who killed Sinclair but said she lied for fear of losing her husband.
“I was terrified of being alone and I felt terrible because my husband was sick as well,” she told the court as quoted by Australian Associated Press.
However, what has disturbed most people is the shocking information that witnesses revealed about how Sinclair was treated in his last days.
Appearing before Brisbane magistrate’s court, prosecution witness, Gertrude Marutawana, said during a visit to the Timberlakes' she noted scars on the boy's back and upon enquiry Arunga had told her Sinclair had been "beaten as punishment" after people accused her of being a witch in while still in Kenya.
In her testimony, Christina Carroll, a friend of the family, said she had observed straight line cuts on the kid's forehead months before he was murdered.
“It looked like he’d been cut with a razor or a knife,” she said. “It was discoloured like it'd been healed," said Carroll, adding Arunga said the boy had fallen down the stairs.
During a committal hearing, the court was shocked when the Australian Immigration Department revealed that Arunga and Quincy when seeking asylum, claimed they used to live in a cave when they were in Kenya and could give Sinclair paracetamol so that his cries would not alert the authorities or attract wild animals.
Arunga will appear before Australian judge Martin Burns on Thursday for sentencing after she pleaded guilty to being an accessory to Sinclair's murder. She faces up to 25 years imprisonment in a maximum security facility.