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Rwandan woman, brother charged with conspiring to kill her Swiss boyfriend
Rwandan national Antoinette Uwineza alias Micheline at a Milimani court on November 1, 2018, when she was sentenced to life in prison over the killing of her friend Winnie Uwambaye Colpitts.
What you need to know:
- Siblings have also been accused of conspiring to steal 850 euros (about Sh146,489) and other valuables.
- Uwineza was arrested by detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations on December 31, 2023.
A Rwandan woman, whose life sentence for another murder was overturned on appeal in 2020, has now been charged with conspiring to kill her Swiss boyfriend.
Antoinette Uwineza, also known as Dardeh PM Kasswen, has been charged with conspiring with her brother Eddy Kwizera to kill Helbling Guico Paul.
In addition to conspiring to eliminate Paul, the siblings were also accused of conspiring to steal 850 euros (about Sh146,489) and other valuables.
They denied the charges before Milimani Chief Magistrate Lucas Onyina. They are charged with conspiracy to commit murder and preparation to commit an offence on December 30, 2023 at Brookside area in Westlands Nairobi.
Uwineza was arrested by undercover detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) on December 31, 2023. She had allegedly lured Paul to a city shop on the pretext of selling him gold.
Uwineza, her brother and others not in court were found with two kitchen knives, one litre of chloride exide battery acid, two black polythene paper bags, four surgical hand gloves and six Nitrest 10mg tablets, which investigators believe were to be used in the murder.
Uwineza and Kwizera, who are represented by lawyer John Swaka, were released on a cash bail of Sh200,000 each with one surety, pending the mention of the case on January 27.
For the previous murder charge, Uwineza was jailed for life on November 1, 2018 by then High Court Judge Jessie Lesiit (now a Court of Appeal judge) after the court ruled that she had killed her love rival Winnie Uwambaye and her seven-month-old baby, over a boyfriend of European descent.
Judge Lesiit ruled that the accused had deliberately killed her friend and her seven-month-old baby "with malice and in a brutal manner."
However, in September 2020, Court of Appeal judges – Martha Koome (now Chief Justice), Hannah Okwengu and Fatuma Sichale – overturned the ruling, saying Uwineza's sentence had been handed down without the prosecution proving beyond reasonable doubt that she had killed Uwambaye.
Uwambaye's lifeless body was found on February 16, 2013 at Saharan Lodge on Duruma Road in Nairobi. The 42-year-old had been strangled with a polythene bag and her body wrapped in a bed sheet.
Uwineza was arrested in Kayole while using the deceased's phone. She was arrested along with her male friend, who was later acquitted for lack of evidence.
