A 36-year-old barman accused of killing a private school proprietor and his wife three years ago has been sentenced to death by a Nakuru court.
John Wanyama was found guilty of strangling Alfred Gatienya Githinji and Mary Githinji, owners of Maryanne Tee academy in Naivasha's Tangitano area, on the night of October 7, 2012.
Nakuru senior principal magistrate James Mwaniki, who delivered the ruling, said that witnesses who testified in court proved that indeed Wanyama committed the offence beyond reasonable doubt.
“To deter others in the society from disrespecting others’ lives, you are sentenced to face the hangman’s noose for the heinous act,” said the magistrate during the ruling.
The prosecution told the court that Wanyama, who committed the crime jointly with others on the run, was found with Equity bank and Housing Finance ATMs belonging to the deceased.
The court heard that this was after a capital robbery incident involving the deceased couple in which they were robbed off three 90kg sacks of maize, phones and ATMs before their attackers strangled them at their residence within the school.
Clothes and other assorted household items were among the items stolen from the deceased.
Wanyama was arrested on May 20, 2013 while working at a bar in Naivasha town and was handed over to detectives for interrogation before he faced robbery with violence charges in court.
The body of Githinji was found lifeless at the toilet whereas that of his wife lay in the coulple’s sitting room.
Relatives of the slain couple who had gathered in court to hear the judgement of the case said they were pleased because finally justice took its course three years after the heinous act.
“We have been waiting for three years but finally justice has reigned,” said a relative, who sought anonymity.