Former United States International University-Africa (USIU-Africa) student Duncan Livingstone Kimathi has been sentenced to death for the murder of his colleague, Sarah Akello Aruwa, in Kiambu County in 2012.

Justice Kanyi Kimondo handed down the sentence after finding the 37-year-old guilty of killing Akello between June 30 and July 1, 2012, in the Kiamako area of Githunguri.

The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) secured the conviction after the prosecution, led by Millicent Kigira, presented 17 witnesses to explain the circumstances surrounding Akello’s abduction, the ransom demands made to her family and her eventual murder.

The court found that Kimathi and his accomplices had lured Akello into a trap before abducting her and demanding money from her family. Justice Kimondo concluded that the circumstances surrounding the abduction and killing showed that the murder had been planned.

During the trial, the court heard that Akello was a final-year International Relations student at USIU-Africa. On the day she disappeared, she told a friend that she was going to meet a man she had previously encountered at the university library.

The DPP said evidence presented during the trial showed that the abductors subsequently contacted her family and demanded Sh100,000 for her release.

"Her mother, Hellen Atieno Aruwa, testified that a man called her using her daughter’s mobile phone and demanded the ransom. She negotiated the amount down to Sh70,000 before reporting the matter to Kasarani Police Station," the DPP said.

Akello’s boyfriend also told the court that he tried to reach her on her mobile phone, but a man answered and demanded that Sh100,000 be sent to the deceased’s mobile money account as ransom.

The court further heard that Akello had written in her notebook that she intended to meet a person identified as Daniel Muriithi. She had also recorded his telephone number.

However, the court established that Kimathi did not know Muriithi and concluded that the name had been used as part of a plan to lure Akello into the trap.

Investigations later led to the recovery of Akello’s inner garments and a blood-stained top from a house in Savannah where Kimathi’s girlfriend, Wairimu, lived.

The second accused in the case later absconded after being released on bail, prompting the court to direct that the trial continue in her absence.

A postmortem examination established that Akello had suffered a laceration at the back of her head and bruises on her neck. Her tongue was also found protruding from her mouth.

The examination determined that she died from neck compression caused by manual strangulation.

In his judgment, Justice Kimondo found that Kimathi had acted with malice aforethought, noting that Akello had been deliberately lured into a trap, abducted and held for ransom before being murdered.

The court consequently convicted Kimathi of murder, contrary to Section 203 as read with Section 204 of the Penal Code, and sentenced him to death.