A 33-year-old woman has been sentenced to life imprisonment for the cold blood murder of her eight-year-old stepdaughter.
Susan Nyimoki was on Monday found guilty of committing the offence at Bahati, Nakuru County in January 6, 2008 together with two of her accomplices known as Emaculate Kimani and Samuel Diara.
The court heard that Nyimoki murdered Margaret Wanjiku, her step daughter, in order to win back her estranged husband Elijah Karanja.
The three had earlier confessed to killing Wanjiku but later denied, saying they had been coerced and threatened into doing so.
In her confession, Nyimoki said she felt her husband loved Wanjiku more than he loved her son and thought if the girl was eliminated, Karanja would return to her.
When handing the sentence, Lady Justice Maureen Odero averred that the fact that Wanjiku was stabbed in her neck, there was no doubt the attacker intended to either kill or cause grievous harm.
The judge also noted that the retracted confessions were very detailed and could only be provided by persons involved, hence concluding the accused acted in concert.
“I find each and every one of the three accused persons guilty of the murder of Margaret Wanjiku and they are hereby convicted to life imprisonment for the offence of murder,” she said.
According to the postmortem report it revealed the stab wounds severed blood vessels in her neck and the deceased died of severe bleeding.