NAKURU, Kenya, Jun 3 – A former school principal convicted of the murder of her husband, a fellow principal, was Thursday sentenced to 30 years in jail.
Justice Joel Ngugi handed Jane Muthoni the sentence saying she severally planned the murder of Solomon Mwangi.
Mwangi, a principle at Kiiru Boys Secondary School, was murdered on November 6, 2016, by hitmen hired by Muthoni who was at the time the School Head at Icaciri Girls Secondary School.
Isaac Ng’ang’a, the co-accused in the case was handed a similar sentence.
Evidence adduced in court showed that the duo together with Patrick Njiru who has been missing since November and Joseph Kariuki alias Karis had been plotting the murder for months.
Justice Ngugi said scorned by suspected infidelity by her husband, Muthoni was connected to the killers by Njiru.
“I have considered all factors and found that Muthoni was a depraved vengeful person who was committed to killing her husband,” said the judge.
It was Karis and Gikuyu who actually killed the Mwangi by hitting him with blunt objects strangling him with a rope which had been brought and carried by Muthoni when she delivered her husband, the court established
Karis however admitted committing the offense and was jailed for seven years having been made a state witness in the murder case.
While sentencing Muthoni, the court described her husband’s killing as the most brutal by all standards.
Justice Ngugi noted that in addition to spiking her husband’s drink with a strong veterinary sedative to stupefy him and weaken him for his killers, Muthoni personally delivered him to them.
He said a postmodern report on Solomon Mwangi indicated he died of asphyxia neck compression due to manual and ligature strangulation.
“His body had major injuries on the head, upper torso and legs,” said Justice Ngugi.
He added that a toxicology test on specimen harvested from his body showed the presence of xylazine, a sedative commonly used in veterinary services.
During the hearing, it was testified that Muthoni resolved to use the stronger drug after her earlier efforts to use another drug which is illegally used by commercial sex workers to stupefy their clients and steal from them failed.
The drug is commonly referred to as mchele.
Witnesses had told the court she once claimed her husband had an extramarital affair with a mobile money transfer agent.
One witness told the court Muthoni had at some point hired her alongside someone else for Sh200,000 to retrieve text messages between the deceased and a 28-year-old M-Pesa agent.
The M-Pesa shop attendant Muthoni had accused of having an affair with her husband told court the principal had threatened her many times over an alleged love affair.
The M-Pesa agent who denied having had an affair with Muthoni’s husband displayed text messages from the ex-principal warning her to keep off the husband.
Justice Ngugi said Muthoni masterminded and procured her husband’s killers although she did not participate in the actual murder.
The two were found guilty of murder on April 22, 2021, with the court establishing a the time that Mwangi’s murder occurred between November 6 and 11 2016.
On Thursday, the judge backdated the sentence to November 2016 when they were arrested.
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