Ivy Wangeci: Man Who Killed Moi University Lover With Axe Jailed For 40 Years

• Until her death in April 2019, Ivy Wangeci was a student at the Eldoret-based Moi University, where she was undertaking a medicine program
• She was fatally hacked in the head by Naftali Kinuthia, her then-boyfriend, who was aggrieved by her move to befriend another man
• An Eldoret court was convinced by the evidence adduced before it, which implicated Kinuthia, handing him four decades in jail

Kai Eli, a journalist at TUKO.co.ke, brings over three years of experience covering politics and current affairs in Kenya.

Uasin Gishu - An Eldoret court has convicted Naftali Kinuthia for 40 years after being found guilty of killing his girlfriend in 2019.

The man hacked to death Ivy Wangeci, whom she accused of seeing another man beside him.

Until her death, Wangeci was a finalist student at Moi University, where she was undertaking a medicine program.

Justice Reuben Githinji stated that Kinuthia had intentionally planned the student's murder by purchasing an axe for that purpose.

What was the verdict in Ivy Wangechi's murder case?

Githinji said the prosecution had proven, beyond any doubt, that Kinuthia, who killed Ivy in broad daylight, had preconceived to end the young woman's life tragically.

Additionally, the judge also ruled no evidence proved the accused claims of having a sexual relationship with the slain lady.

"Text messages submitted did not prove that the accused was in a relationship, and he did not also provide any evidence of a sexual relationship," he said on Thursday.

The judge, currently stationed in Malindi, delivered the verdict virtually.

Why did Naftali Kinuthi regret his action?

The accused, detained at the Eldoret GK prison, followed the proceedings remotely.

In March this year, Kinuthia apologised to the bereaved family.

He said he would have handled the matter differently, given an opportunity.

The convict told the court that for the four years he had been under police custody, he reflected on his actions and sympathised with Wangeci's family.

How Wangeci's life was cut short

What was to be merry at the deceased's birthday week turned tragic after Kinuthia travelled uninvited to attend.

Kinuthia informed the court that he had funded the party despite being uninvited when he learned Wangeci was interested in another man.

He said he was aggrieved by the deceased's comfort in taking money from him when she knew she was not ready to further their relationship.

Kinuthia revealed he had spent upward of KSh 100,000 to the benefit of the deceased.

His anger reached the pinnacle when Wangeci disowned him before ridiculing his shortness.

He used his axe to fatally hack her twice in the head in the precincts of the Moi Referral and Teaching Hospital (MTRH) where she was undertaking her study practicals.

Kinuthia's sentencing came after another one of a man who killed her ex-lover in the same year in the same county of Uasin Gishu.

Forty-year-old named Mustafa Idd was jailed for 45 years for killing Emma Wanyotta.

45-year-jail term for another Uasin Gishu murder convict

In his verdict on November 2, Justice Reuben Nyakundi, the presiding judge of the Eldoret High Court, ruled that Mustafa had a case to answer.

At the time of her death, Wanyotta was aged 21 and a student at Eldoret's Vera Beauty College.

While sentencing Mustafa later on November 28, Nyakundi said the court was convinced that the man hacked the young lady into pieces before distributing the body parts in a napier grass farm and an animal shed adjacent to the latter's home.

"How you killed her was very inhumane. You had a chance to protect her but instead, you turned against her.

“It was a horrific death as some of the body parts of the deceased were missing while others had been buried in shallow graves in their family land. She did not deserve to lose her life in such a brutal manner,” the judge said.

Beauty college student's mutilated body was found inside farm

Wanyotta's mutilated body was discovered in a pool of blood in a farm adjoining their Moi's Bridge home.

She had gone missing the day preceding the murder, with her phone having been switched off.

The deceased's widowed mother, Beatrice Luzeno, said she (Wanyotta) had been sexually assaulted before her body was dismembered.