JUDGMENT OF THE COURT
Brian Kariuki, the appellant, was charged with the offence of murder contrary to Section 203 as read with Section 204 of the Penal Code, Chapter 63, Laws of Kenya, in the High Court at Embu. The particulars of the offence were that on 14th and 15th February, 2006 at Gichiche Sub-location in Embu District within the then Eastern Province, the appellant murdered Lydia Igandu (deceased).
The appellant pleaded not guilty to the charge and the trial commenced with the aid of three assessors. The prosecution called a total of 12 witnesses in support of its case. It was the prosecution's case that on 12th February, 2006 the deceased sent PW5, Linus Nyaga Njeru (Linus), to deliver a valentine's card to the appellant in his rented room. However, Linus did not find the appellant in his room and left the card in a nearby kiosk to be delivered to the appellant once he got home. On 14th February, 2006 at around 2:00 p.m while PW2, Peter Gitonga (Peter), was in his restaurant wh…