Joseph Irungu, popularly known as ‘Jowie’, is set to be sentenced on March 8, 2023.
The sentencing comes a month after he was found guilty of the murder of Kenyan businesswoman Monica Kimani.
The ruling delivered by Lady Justice Grace Nzioka on February 9, 2024.
The court sitting in Nairobi ruled that the prosecution had presented sufficient evidence and established beyond reasonable doubt of Jowie’s involvement in Kimani’s murder.
Prior to his sentencing, Jowie will have a chance to offer mitigating factors with the aim of persuading the judge to consider leniency in the sentencing process.
His conviction brings to an end a six-year case in which he was detained at Kamiti prison for two years after the court initially denied him bail.
Jowie was convicted over the murder while his co-accused Jacque Maribe was let off the hook after the prosecutions failed to place her at the scene of the crime.
The judge, in delivering the verdict, highlighted the prosecution’s failure to establish Maribe’s presence at the scene of the crime.
Furthermore, the judge questioned the appropriateness of the charge brought against Maribe, indicating that it did not accurately reflect her alleged involvement.
“It is my considered view that the charge brought against the second accused person (Jacque Maribe) was not the proper charge.”
The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has indicated that he will appeal Maribe’s acquittal.
Police officers who testified in the case said the person who committed the offence was not an amateur but one with military training. This is so because the slitting of the throat was done with much precision.
“I find that the target of the neck indicates perpetrators were fully aware, intended to and target for purposes of instant death,” the judge said.
Justice Grace Nzioka also said that the prosecution found that Joseph Irungu, alias Jowie, lied in his defence that he did not know Monica Kimani before her murder.
While defending himself against allegations of murdering Monica, Jowie told Justice Nzioka that he was not at her house in Lamuria Gardens when she was killed in September 2018.
“I never visited Monica at her residence and l never talked to her since l did not know her. I knew her brother George Kimani,” Jowie told the court.
Jowie Irungu’s legal team indicated they would appeal the ruling.
