A man has been sentenced to death for the murder of his fellow university student after a court found that she had been lured into a trap, abducted and killed in a case involving a Sh100,000 ransom demand.

Duncan Livingstone Kimathi, 37, was sentenced by Justice Kanyi Kimondo after being found guilty of murdering Sarah Akello Aruwa between June 30 and July 1, 2012, in Kiamako, Githunguri, Kiambu County.

The Director of Public Prosecutions secured the conviction following a trial in which the prosecution, led by Millicent Kigira, called 17 witnesses to present evidence on the abduction, ransom demands and killing.

The court heard that Akello, a final-year International Relations student, disappeared after telling a friend that she was going to meet a man she had previously encountered at a university library.

Evidence presented during the trial showed that her abductors later contacted her family and demanded Sh100,000 for her release.

Her mother, Hellen Atieno Aruwa, told the court that a man called her using her daughter's mobile phone and demanded the money.

She negotiated the ransom down to Sh70,000 before reporting the matter to Kasarani Police Station.

Akello's boyfriend also testified that when he tried calling her, a man answered and demanded that Sh100,000 be sent to the deceased's mobile money account.

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 contact.

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

Investigations later led to the recovery of the deceased's undergarments and a blood-stained top from a house in Savannah where Kimathi's girlfriend lived.

The trial also heard postmortem findings showing that Akello had sustained a laceration at the back of her head and bruises on her neck.

The medical examination established that she died from neck compression through manual strangulation.

In his judgment, Justice Kimondo found that the circumstances surrounding the abduction and killing demonstrated malice aforethought.

The judge concluded that Akello had been deliberately lured into a trap for abduction and ransom before she was murdered.

Kimathi was subsequently convicted of murder under Section 203 as read with Section 204 of the Penal Code and sentenced to death.

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