Former primetime television anchor Jackie Maribe and her ex-boyfriend, Jowie Irungu, appeared at the Milimani Law Courts on October 6, 2023, to know the fate of their murder case.
They intended to find out if they would have a case to answer to or if they would be acquitted.
However, the ruling judge deferred their case to December 15, 2023, for judgment ruling in open court.
According to prior Nairobi News reports, prosecution lawyers previously told Lady Justice Grace Nzioka they have enough evidence to prove Jowie and Maribe killed the late businesswoman Monica Kimani on September 19, 2018. The prosecution revealed that Jowie had been spotted as the last person at Ms Kimani’s house by several witnesses and this was proved by blood samples taken from his shorts as well as his phone records placing him at the scene of the murder.
Ms Maribe was accused of conspiring with Jowie to create a false story that they had been attacked by thieves at their Royal Park Estate home in Langata after Jowie shot himself to cover up his activities on the fateful night that Ms Kimani was murdered. These statements were contradicted by another witness, Jowie’s neighbor Brian Kasaine, who told police that Jowie had asked for flammable liquid to burn something and it turned out to be the clothes Jowie had worn on the night Ms Monica was murdered.
However, Jowie and Maribe’s lawyers urged the judge to dismiss the prosecution’s claims that their clients murdered Ms Kimani, saying they had failed to prove the case against their clients as required by law.
“The case is based on circumstantial evidence. There’s no direct evidence against the second accused person,” added Ms Maribe’s lawyer.
This was in spite of investigations finding out that Ms Maribe switched off her phone around the same time Ms Kimani was murdered.
“Justice to family and to Jacque will be served. It may Tarry, like scripture notes, but it shall surely come,” said government blogger Dennis Itumbi, a close friend to Ms Maribe.
The late Monica Kimani was found murdered at her Nairobi Lumuria Gardens home off Dennis Pritt road. She was found dead in her bathtub with her neck slit from ear to ear. Investigating officer Chief Inspector Maxwell Otieno disclosed that Jowie and two other men visited Monica’s house hours after she returned to Kenya from Juba, South Sudan, and she was found murdered hours after the get-together.
