When Jane Muthoni, a former Icaciri Girls Secondary School headteacher, was planning the execution of her husband back in 2016, all she could think about was revenge for what she suspected to be infidelity.
She never thought of the critical role Mr Solomon Mwangi Mbuthi played in her family and society as a father to her four children and also the head of Kiiru Boys High School in Murang’a before she plotted his elimination in a murder described as most foul.
The consequence of her actions was that her children lost one key parent and a school in Murang’a County lost a beloved principal.
And the punishment delivered Thursday for her actions will see the children live for many more years without the care and guidance of both parents after she was sentenced to serve 30 years in prison
Nakuru High Court Judge Joel Ngugi, while sentencing Muthoni and her accomplice Isaac Ng’ang’a, alias Gikuyu, noted that the aggravating circumstances of the killing called for a stiff sentence to match the ruthlessness of their actions.
But what is more saddening is that it took at least four years before it dawned on Muthoni that her children would suffer because of her actions.
After her conviction on April 22, Muthoni embarked on a spirited fight for her freedom while basing her passionate appeal for lenient punishment on the suffering that awaited her children should she be handed the maximum penalty.
Plea for mercy
Muthoni, who appeared in court for a mitigation hearing, pleaded for the court’s mercy while claiming to be a first-time offender and the only remaining parent and breadwinner for her four children, who currently depend on the charity of well-wishers.
“It is my prayer that the court considers the facts that my family and I have undergone through a traumatic experience since 2016 amidst threats and attempted assault on my daughter. My children who have continued to suffer yet the people who did these crimes are outside there walking free celebrating the fruits of injustice,” she pleaded.
Her firstborn daughter June Valentine Mbuthi, who also got a chance to address the court, narrated the challenges that she and her siblings had endured while her mother was locked up.
The court heard that June, a fourth-year university student, had assumed parental responsibilities for her three siblings, adding that they have struggled to get food, school fees and other basic needs.
She pleaded with the court to forgive her mother and allow her to take care of the family.
But the judge noted that the 30-year custodial sentence is the only suitable way of expressing society’s condemnation of the accused persons’ conduct and deter similar actions.
Justice Ngugi observed that Muthoni was so intent on having her husband killed that she had arranged several times to have him eliminated.
“The picture that emerges from the evidence is one of a depraved and vengeful spouse, not an accidental killer who poorly responds spontaneously to immediate circumstances. Both of the accused persons had many opportunities to walk back from their plans but with each opportunity they chose the path of death,” noted Justice Ngugi.
Solomon Mbuthi Mwangi, the slaim principal of Kiiru Boys High School in Muranga County.
What happened
In the murder plot, Muthoni hired the services of three hitmen: Ng’ang’a, Joseph Kariuki and Nelson Njiru Magati.
Kariuki confessed to taking part in the murder and was allowed to plead guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter after he agreed to become a prosecution witness.
He was sentenced on March 9, 2017 to seven years in prison.
Mr Magati disappeared into thin air and has never been found.
Muthoni’s initial plan was to eliminate a woman that she suspected of having an affair with her husband, but she changed her mind and decided to eliminate Mr Mbuthi instead.
The chronology of events began with the disappearance of Mr Mbuthi on November 6, 2016 before his decomposing body was found in a coffee plantation five days later by a farm worker.
It was covered in a soiled gunny bag and had a rope around his neck and tied to a tree.
On November 16, the Ruiru police station commander confirmed that the body was that of Mr Mbuthi.
Muthoni was taken in for questioning before she was released on November 21 and then rearrested.
She was arraigned later but did not take a plea until November 29 after she had been confirmed fit to stand trial.
However, the court, in its ruling on December 10, denied her release on bond on the grounds that she would interfere with witnesses.
Ng’ang’a was arraigned on December 28 and pleaded not guilty to the charges and was also denied bond.
On March 1, 2017, Kariuki, who had denied the charges of murder, applied for a plea bargain agreement with prosecutors. The deal was allowed on March 9, 2017.
The ruling
After Kariuki’s sentencing, Muthoni and Ng’ang’a again made a second attempt for release on bond in March 2017, but the application was dismissed on September 6, 2017.
Justice Ngugi, however, directed a speedy hearing of the matter.
On October 18, 2018, Muthoni and Ng’ang’a filed a third application for bond. She cited her health concerns and also said she needed to take care of her children.
But the court dismissed the application because only one witness was remaining before the prosecution case could be closed.
After 21 witnesses had testified against the suspects, prosecutors closed their case on June 6, 2019.
Justice Ngugi, in his ruling on November 12, 2019, found Muthoni and Ng’ang’a with a case to answer and placed them on their defense.
Muthoni lined up five witnesses, herself and Ng’ang’a.
After closing her defense hearing, the court delivered its guilty verdict on the two on April 22 before slating the sentence hearing for May 18.
In his ruling on Thursday, Justice Ngugi said the sentence for the two will run from the date of their arraignment.
“I am of the view that a custodial sentence of 30 years for each of the two is an appropriate sentence which shall run from the date they were arraigned in court,” ruled Justice Ngugi
After the five-year trial that was dogged by delays, adjournments and numerous applications, Justice Ngugi thanked state counsel Catherine Mwaniki and the suspects’ lawyer, Mr Francis Njanja, for the cooperation that saw the expeditious conclusion of the case.
Mr Njanja applied to be supplied with copies of the ruling, saying he intends to challenge the sentence in the Court of Appeal. BY DAILY NATION