Kiambu politician Gladys Chania, who is facing murder charges, has had a difficult week after she was charged with fraud just days before the start of her trial over the death of her husband.
Ms Chania is standing trial at the Kiambu Law Courts for the murder of her husband George Mwangi in October 2022.
During the murder trial on Friday, the court was told that the late Mwangi had complained of an abusive marriage and decided to take a mistress for consolation. Police believe the deceased was killed on the night of October 8, 2022 and his body dumped in a forest.
On Friday, Lucy Muthoni, the late Mwangi's mistress, took the witness stand and narrated how Ms Chania planted spies to track her movements and once attacked her in public.
Ms Muthoni told the court that she met the late Mwangi when she was looking for a house to rent, during which the deceased confided in her about the problems in his marriage.
Police on October 14 at the home of Mr George Mwangi (inset), who was killed and his body dumped in a forest.
Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group
Ms Chania is on remand along with Maurice Mbugua after being charged in court for the brutal murder of Mwangi, a businessman based in Kigali, Rwanda.
''I met George Mwangi when I was looking for a house to rent. He owned a one-bedroom apartment that goes for Sh 10,000 a few metres from his matrimonial home. At that time, he had just jetted into the country from Kigali, Rwanda where he was based. After paying for the rent through M-Pesa, we started talking. He told me he had had a troubled marriage with his second wife Gladys Chania and asked me if we could start dating. Whenever he was in Kenya we would meet and spend the night in his matrimonial home because Ms Chania was living in another house in Thika,'’ Ms Muthoni told the court during cross examination by prosecutor Augustine Gacharia.
Ms Chania is the deceased's second wife and they had three children, while the first wife, identified as Eunice Mwangi, had one child.
Ms Gladys Chania.
Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group
Even as this is happening, more intrigues in the murder trial continue to emerge as Ms Chania's co-accused in the murder told the court yesterday that he was under pressure to recant his earlier statement.
John Mwangi, a former farmhand of the deceased, has been cleared of the murder and is now a state witness in the trial.
Ms Chania's troubles appear to be far from over as she faces fraud charges in another court. A few days before she was brought before Lady Justice Dora Chepkwony at the Kiambu High Court for the murder trial, Ms Chania spent two days in a lower court where she is accused of defrauding more than five people of Sh10 million by promising them jobs abroad.
The cross-examination of Maurice Mbugua, the co-accused in the murder case, is scheduled for February 13.
