'How I learnt of my wife's murder,' : A husband's heartbreaking court testimony

The hearing of a case where Ezekiel Mwangi Sakwa alias Kwame is accused of murdering four women kicked off on Tuesday, at a Nakuru court, with a heart breaking testimony from one of the victims’ husband.

Mr Elisha Otieno took to the stand and recounted how he discovered the body of his late wife, Vera Mugambi, in a thicket in Baraka Estate.

Otieno told the court that on the morning of August 7, 2024, he woke up and bid his wife Vera goodbye, as he headed to work in a nearby construction site where he worked as a mason.

“I came back home at around 7:40 pm only to find that my wife was not yet home. That was very peculiar because she is usually done with her food vending business at around 6 pm and she comes home; on instances she is coming late she calls me and tells me,” he told the court.

At around 8 pm, Otieno started getting worried and he tried calling his wife, but his efforts in reaching her bore no fruits.

“I was persistent until sometime after 9 pm when it was picked up and the person who answered on the other end was not her; it was the voice of a man. He said, “Nimemshughulikia ni kulala analala” and he hung up,” he said.

Otieno says he became worried and was unable to sleep. At 2 am he reached out to her again but there was no answer.

“The following day, August 8, I went to the place within Baraka Estate where she sells food and the watchman told me that my wife had left the previous day at around 2 pm and she did not go back. After hearing this, I decided to call my wife again and the person on the other end picked up,” he says.

The person on the other end then said, “Mke wako aliuliwa jana. Niliona hii simu karibu na mwili. Hio mwili iko kwa mahindi.”

Upon enquiring who this stranger was, Otieno says he identified himself as, “Mimi ni Ezekiel Sakwa Kwame.”

“Ezekiel then directed me to where I would find my wife’s body and then he hung up,” says Otieno.

As Otieno walked frantically to where he was told the body was, he met Omondi, a friend of his who was coming from the opposite direction.

“I informed Omondi of my ordeal and coincidentally he says that he has just come from that place and that he saw a body in the maize plantation and in his mind he thought that the person was asleep. We went there only to find my wife's corpse lying in the maize plantation,” he testified.

Otieno further gave Judge Julius Nangea a vivid description of the injuries sustained by his wife.

“It appeared as if she had been hit by a sharp object on the back of her head severally, as she had several scars on the back of her head. She was lying in a huge pool of blood,” he told the court.

Sakwa was first arraigned on September 19, 2024. The 20-year-old suspect has been accused of allegedly killing four women, three in Rongai Sub-county and one in Nakuru West Sub-county.

He pleaded not guilty to the murders of Alice Ayuma, Virginia Njeri Mwangi, Florence Mueni Mwalimu, and Verah Moraa Mugambi.

The hearing will continue on November 6.