A man accused of murdering his love rival has been acquitted by the High Court in Kitale due to insufficient evidence.
Brian Soita Wafula faced charges for the death of Jairus Wanyonyi Khamala, stemming from a violent incident in February 2023 in Milele village, Trans Nzoia.
Justice Robert Limo highlighted that the evidence linking Wafula to the crime relied heavily on suspicion. The prosecution argued that both men were romantically involved with the same schoolgirl, which they claimed provided a motive for the attack.
The girl testified that she had relationships with both men, stating, “I did not know if the two knew each other because I met them separately,” according to court documents.
Throughout the trial, Wafula maintained his innocence and provided an unsworn statement, claiming he had only gone to retrieve his phone from the girl and had no involvement in the violence. He asserted he did not encounter Khamala that day and believed he had been framed. His father, Eliud Soita Wanyonyi, corroborated his alibi, stating he was home that night.
The prosecution alleged that Wafula struck Khamala with a blunt object. However, the court identified substantial gaps in the case. The girl recalled Wafula arriving to collect his phone with a black rubber pipe around his waist and later noticed a similar pipe near Khamala’s body. Yet, another witness, Amos Namiti Wafula, clarified that the item was his bicycle bladder.
Amos accompanied Khamala to Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital, where Khamala succumbed to his injuries.
A DCI Kiminini officer, who led the investigation, testified that the crime scene had been compromised, and no physical evidence was recovered. He indicated that the girl may have fled when she realized both men were about to meet.
Although the officer mentioned Wafula was seen with a pipe, he did not recover it, and the cause of death was identified as blunt force trauma. Postmortem results confirmed a severe head injury as the cause of death, yet the court expressed concerns over the absence of the alleged murder weapon.
Justice Limo pointed out that the lack of a key witness, Enock, who was reportedly with Khamala at the time, raised further doubts.
While acknowledging that Khamala died from a severe head injury and that malice could be inferred, the court ultimately found no evidence to identify Wafula as the assailant. The judge concluded that the circumstantial evidence, including a prior dispute over the same girl, was insufficient for a conviction. Consequently, Wafula was acquitted, with the court deeming the prosecution’s case too weak to support a guilty verdict.
