Crime

04 March 2023

• He had traveled all the way from Nairobi to Eldoret to wish her a happy birthday and had even paid Sh14,000 for the birthday party.

•The murder case is being heard by Justice Stephen Githinji.

Naftali Kinuthia, the main suspect in the murder of Ivy Wangechi says he regrets hacking her to death.

Wangechi was hacked to death outside the Moi Referral Hospital in Eldoret on April 9, 2019.

Speaking while testifying about the murder at the High Court in Eldoret, Naftali shared

Naftali narrated how the incident happened when he gave his final defence evidence in the murder case which is being heard by Justice Stephen Githinji.

“Looking back, I regret what I did. Even though I was hurt there were other ways I would have used to resolve our differences,” he said.

Kinuthia said he acted after seeing her long-time friend and intimate lover hugging another man on her birthday when he had travelled all the way from Nairobi to Eldoret to wish her happy birthday and had even paid Sh14,000 for the birthday party.

Kinuthia said he had travelled to Eldoret on the material day to personally wish Ivy a happy birthday even though their relationship was estranged and that she had blocked his phone for some time making it impossible for him to reach her.

He says he tried severally to reconcile their differences and communicated to her through a friend identified as Mary Ann Chepkoech. He had asked Chepkoech to convince Ivy that they meet and talk out but it did materialize.

Earlier he said Ivy had informed her about the birthday and that she needed Sh28,000 to host a party.

She requested him to help her with the cash and Kinuthia sent her Sh14,000 promising to deliver the balance on April 10th which was her birthday.

Later, she blocked him and he on April 4, travelled to Eldoret without informing her.

Efforts to have them sort out their differences failed because she refused to meet him.

He travelled to Eldoret in his car and went to the medical school where he packed his car and decided to locate Ivy physically.

“I wanted to wish her happy birthday and also inform her that I would not attend the party because I was to travel back to Nairobi immediately for work.

"I also wanted to deliver the balance for the party personally," Kinuthia said.

While near the hostels he saw Ivy and went to meet her. Ivy was surprised to see him and immediately informed him that her new boyfriend would take care of the cost of the birthday party.

“She told me that I was not invited to the party and that I should immediately leave. I was so shocked by what she was saying. At that point I didn't even answer I knew she had burned all the bridges and there was no way I would restore our relationship," he said.

He said it became apparent that she had ignored him and wanted nothing to do with him

“In my mind, I felt like a loser and hopeless because of what she said. I became angry and felt bad that the connection we had since 1998 had suddenly come to an end,” he said.

At that point I went back to my car and decided would never talk to her again.

As he was getting into the car he looked back and saw her hugging and holding hands with a male friend around 50 meters away.

He had never seen the man she was hugging but later came to know he was Andrew Macharia

“At that point, I lost control and was too angry because of what was happening before me. I wasn't myself again and can't tell how I decided to pick the axe and attack her," he said.

He said the axe had been in his car for over a year and he had bought it for his own security because of working at night many times.

He was then an employee of Pevans East Africa which operates the Sportpesa betting firm.

He said after the incident he was attacked by members of the public and beaten causing him to sustain many injuries and lost consciousness. He was rescued by a police officer and taken to the Moi Referral Hospital for treatment.

“Later when I gained consciousness in the hospital ward, I was informed by a nurse that Ivy had died,” said Kinuthia who was composed throughout his three hours testimony.

Kinuthia was led in his testimony by his lawyer Wokabi Mathenge and he explained their longtime friendship right from nursery school until they became intimate.

He said he had known the deceased since childhood and that they schooled together since 1998 at Joyland Academy nursery

He also knew her home and family. They were neighbours in Muranga county.

She said their parents knew each other and their homes were located a kilometre apart.

Her mother was teaching at Chomo primary school while his father was a bookshop dealer in Thika Town and hence they used to interact a lot.

The judge directed the case to be mentioned on April 25th for final submissions before the judgement.