On February 14, three young men chatted and enjoyed each other's company at a modest mnazi (palm wine) drinking den at Mbungoni in Nyali's Soweto area, Mombasa unaware that before the night ended, one of them would be dead.
As dusk gave way to night, the social gathering took a dark and irreversible turn when moments later, one of the friends lay bleeding from a stab wound allegedly inflicted with a pen knife.
Harrison Luganje Wanje, 25, later succumbed to his injuries, leaving behind a grieving family and a community struggling to comprehend how an ordinary drinking session had ended in tragedy.
Now before the High Court in Mombasa, prosecutors are seeking to prove that Anthony Jerry Ombati murdered his drinking companion. He denied the charge when he was arraigned in March.
As the trial unfolds, witnesses have reconstructed the final hours of the ill-fated drinking spree, painting a chilling picture of how what began as a routine Valentine's Day gathering allegedly spiralled into a deadly confrontation.
On Wednesday, a Government Chemist analyst told the court that DNA analysis conducted on exhibits recovered during the investigation matched the DNA profile obtained from the deceased's reference blood sample. The exhibits submitted for forensic examination included blood stained clothing and a pen knife recovered after the incident.
"I carried out DNA profiling on the submitted exhibits using capillary electrophoresis based fragment analysis. Human blood was detected on the clothing and the pen knife," the analyst testified.
Even so, it is the testimony of those who spent Wanje's final hours with him that has offered the account of how the fatal confrontation is alleged to have unfolded.
Simon Kilinda Kitatu, one of the three friends, told the court that Ombati, whom he knew as Tony, arrived at his parents' home at about 2.30pm while he was resting.
"At around 6pm, we left the house and went to a mnazi den near Soweto Grounds," Kitatu testified.
While they were drinking, they were joined by Wanje, whom they also referred to as Ziro. According to Kitatu, the trio briefly left the den after Wanje received a telephone call from his sister asking him to return home.
"Ombati went with Wanje while I proceeded home," he said.
The two later rejoined him and they returned to the mnazi den before heading home at about 8pm. Kitatu said he left Ombati and Wanje inside his family's kitchen while he went to buy food for the family's dogs.
"The two friends were okay as I left them. But to my surprise, when I came back, I found Wanje bleeding in the abdomen," he said.
He told the court that he immediately used a piece of cloth to try to stop the bleeding while Ombati stood nearby. His cousin, Ronny Kinagu, had also arrived.
"I told Kinagu, since he is a boda boda rider, we should take Wanje to hospital," Kitatu testified.
The injured man was rushed to hospital before Kitatu and Kinagu informed his family about the incident. By the time they returned to the hospital with Wanje's sister, he had died.
Kitatu said they later reported the matter at Mbungoni Police Post before accompanying officers to Ombati's home. However, the accused could not be found.
Kinagu testified that he returned home around midnight after work to find Kitatu, Ombati and Wanje inside the family's kitchen.
"I heard Kitatu together with his two friends, Ombati and Wanje. They were all drunk. They stayed in the kitchen and they were arguing," Kinagu said.
A picture of the Mombasa Law Courts| Pool
Photo credit: Pool
He told the court he found Wanje bleeding as Kitatu tried to stop the bleeding using a shirt, while Ombati stood nearby.
Kinagu said Kitatu asked him to use his motorcycle to rush Wanje to hospital. Before leaving, he sought the assistance of a community policing member.
"I went to the village elder and requested her to help us with one person to assist us in taking Wanje to the hospital," he testified.
The group first took Wanje to Mwangaza Dispensary, where they were unable to obtain first aid, before transferring him to Beyond Scope Hospital. Kinagu and Kitatu then went to inform Wanje's sister, only to learn upon their return that he had succumbed to his injuries.
He further testified that after reporting the matter at Mbungoni Police Post, they accompanied police officers to search for Ombati at his Bombolulu home but did not find him.
According to Kinagu, Ombati resurfaced the following morning.
"He came to the house asking how Wanje was doing. We told him that he had passed on. He was arrested by Kitatu's uncle and father, taken to the village elder and later escorted to the police," he said.
The court also heard testimony from Wanje's sister, Joyce Dama, who recounted her brother's final hours before learning of his death in the early hours of the following morning.
Joyce told the court that Wanje had spent the day doing casual work for a neighbour before borrowing Sh100 from her for lunch.
"He told me he would repay me after being paid by the neighbour," she testified.
Later that evening, she went looking for him at Kitatu's home but did not find him. At about 8.30pm, Wanje briefly returned home looking intoxicated.
"He gave me Sh50 and told me he was going to watch football with his friends Kitatu and Ombati, whom I know as Tony. He said he would come back," she said.
It was the last time she saw her brother alive. At about 1am, Kitatu knocked on her window.
"He asked me to come out and see my brother. He said my brother was okay but not well," Joyce recalled.
Outside, she found Kitatu and Kinagu with blood stained clothes before they rushed together to the hospital.
"At the hospital entrance, the doctor told us my brother was no more," she testified.
Seeking answers, Joyce asked what had happened.
She corroborated the testimony that the matter was reported to the police post before accompanying police officers to the scene and later to Ombati's home, but he could not be traced.
Police subsequently transferred Wanje's body to the Coast General Teaching and Referral Hospital mortuary pending a postmortem examination.
The prosecution has since been allowed to recall Kinagu to clarify aspects of the crime scene evidence. The hearing will resume on October 22.
