The world may never know the motive that Joseph 'Jowie' Irungu had when he slit the throat of businesswoman Monica Kimani in 2018, leaving her bleeding in a bathtub and closing the door as he left.
This is after Justice Grace Nzioka , in her determination of the murder case against Mr Irungu and his then-fiancée Jacque Maribe, chose not to pursue the topic of motive.
The judge agreed with Kimani’s family that a person can be pinned down for murder even when the motive has not been established.
“As correctly submitted by the victim’s family, it is not necessary to prove motive in the case of murder,” Justice Nzioka said in her written judgment.
She went ahead to state court precedents set in 2003 and 2019 where judges held that the Penal Code requires proving of malice aforethought (intention to harm) and not the motive.
“Proof of it (motive) is not essential to prove a crime,” reads the 2003 judgement partly reproduced by Justice Nzioka.
Justice Grace Nzioka finds Jowie guilty of murdering Monica Kimani
The judge underscored the fact that Mr Irungu spoke of a woman he had been with to one of the 35 witnesses – Jennings Olando – as his girlfriend.
After the murder, Mr Irungu told his friend Mr Olando that he had quarrelled with his girlfriend.
“It is the evidence of Jennings that when the first accused (Mr Irungu) returned from wherever he had gone to, he looked disturbed and remarked that he had quarrelled with the girlfriend he had gone to see,” the judgement reads.
Joseph Irungu alias Jowie at the Milimani Law Court on February 9, 2024, where he was convicted of murdering businesswoman Monica Kimani in 2018.
Photo credit: Wilfred Nyangaresi | Nation Media Group
In court, Mr Irungu tried to advance a narrative of unfaithfulness on the part of Ms Kimani.
“This court has been invited by the first accused person in his submissions to take note of the fact that there’s a message that was sent to (Anthony Kariuki Kaka, one of the prosecution witnesses), from the phone of the deceased person saying, ‘Kuja unisaidie kulala.’ And that if that message got to (Monica’s) Sudanese boyfriend, he would have gotten infuriated, he would have gotten annoyed, and probably would commit the murder,” stated the judge on Friday.
Anthony Kariuki Kaka is one of the people who interacted with the deceased the evening before she died. He, however, did not get into her house.
The late Monica Kimani in an undated photo.
Photo credit: Pool
“He met the deceased at the parking area, as the deceased told him that she had visitors,” Justice Nzioka said in her summary of the submissions in the case.
The late Kimani was to travel to Dubai to meet her Sudanese boyfriend on the morning she was found dead.
Mr Irungu also played up the fact that DNA traces of two men were found on the straps used to tie Monica.
However, the judge ruled that it is possible to have such traces because the straps are bought from somewhere.
“We are not talking about DNA on the body of the deceased,” the judge said as she read the verdict on Friday.
Joseph Irungu alias Jowie is handcuffed at the Milimani Law Courts on February 9, 2024, after he was found guilty of murdering businesswoman Monica Kimani in 2018.
Photo credit: Wilfred Nyangaresi | Nation Media Group
“I have taken judicial notice of the fact that there are items that can be purchased from a departmental store, and they can be handled by more than one person: the seller the buyer and the end user and therefore the possibility of DNA of more than one person being found on these straps is not far-fetched; it’s not unimaginable. If we are saying that this DNA was on the body of the deceased, it would put beyond reasonable doubt that those people were in that house and had contact with the deceased.”
In any case, Justice Nzioka stated, the two were accused of murder with others not before in court.
“Particulars of the charge say ‘jointly charged with others not before the court.’ I say no more,” the judge said.
Joseph Irungu alias Jowie is escorted to prison on February 9, 2024 after he was found guilty of murdering Monica Kimani.
Photo credit: Wilfred Nyangaresi | Nation Media Group
As such, why the late Kimani had to die may well remain a mystery.
Why did Mr Irungu have a gun he did not use in the murder? Why did he steal an identity card two days before killing her? Who are the “others before the court” and will they ever be arraigned?
