Piece by: GEORGE MURAGE

02 March 2023

• Beatrice Mwende who strangled the minors one after the other before sleeping next to their lifeless bodies was convicted after pleading guilty to the four charges of murder.

• Mwende had been charged that on the night of 26th and 27th June 2020, she murdered through strangulation the minors in Kabati estate in Naivasha.

A woman who strangled her four children in Naivasha two years ago has been sentenced to life imprisonment by the High Court.

Beatrice Mwende who strangled the minors one after the other before sleeping next to their lifeless bodies was convicted after pleading guilty to the four charges of murder.

Mwende had been charged that on the night of 26th and 27th June 2020, she murdered through strangulation the minors in Kabati estate in Naivasha.

Last year, Mwende who is being held at the Naivasha Women Prison told the court that after a long consultation with her advocate she had entered a plea of guilty for the four charges.

While sentencing her, High Court Judge Grace Nzioka noted that there was no evidence to prove that the accused was mentally unstable when she committed the act.

The Judge noted that based on the medical evidence adduced in court, the former teacher was of sound mind when she killed the four minors.

Nzioka dismissed the accused statement which indicated that she was possessed with some spirits when he committed the incident.

“The excuse by the accused that she was possessed by some evil spirits when she committed the act cannot be authenticated in court and she is sentenced to life imprisonment,” she said.

In a ruling delivered virtually, the judge sentenced her to life for each of the four counts but was quick to note that she would only serve the first count.

The accused was given 14 days to appeal.

Earlier, the prosecutor Nelly Maingi narrated to the court how the accused started by killing the youngest girl by strangling her before repeating the same to the other three.

She would sleep in the same house until the following morning where she left and informed her kin that she had committed a grievous crime and sought their forgiveness.

The prosecution told the court that the accused was arrested hours later in a lodging in Kayole estate in Naivasha before she was arraigned and charged.

“The post mortem report indicates that the minors died through strangulation and the accused is a first offender who does not have any past criminal record,” said the prosecutor.