A police officer wrongfully convicted of killing his lover at Makupa police lines in Mombasa has emerged victorious after the court of appeal quashed his conviction and set aside his 13 years’ jail term.
David Kanyi had been handed a 13 years’ jail term for manslaughter after he was found guilty of killing Judy Wangari Wanja.
But three Court of Appeal judges found that the deceased committed suicide by hanging herself on his (Mr. Kanyi’s) house’s door on October 2, 2017.
Mr. Kanyi had been handed the sentence by Justice Njoki Mwangi of Mombasa High Court on April 27 this year after close to five years of trial.
However, Court of Appeal judges Jessie Lesiit, Gatembu Kairu and Pauline Nyamweya freed Mr. Kanyi.
The appellate judges said Justice Mwangi’s conclusions were based on the observations and conclusions reached by the investigating officer instead of the pathologist.
The pathologist who conducted the postmortem had found that Ms Wanja’s death was caused by asphyxia due to hanging.
These were based on the observations of the scene as derived from the photographs taken by scenes of the crime officer and his examination of the locus in quo of the deceased death and the body of the deceased.
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One of the witnesses Chief inspector Kulicha told Justice Mwangi during the trial that based on the height of the deceased in relation to the door of Mr. Kanyi’s house, and based on the fact the body had no injuries on the neck area, the deceased could not have committed suicide.
But Justice Mwangi stated that logically and scientifically, there was no positive work that would have exerted pressure on the deceased’s neck through the force of gravity to lead to asphyxia.
She said the theory of suicide which was advanced by some of the Mr. Kanyi’s colleagues at Makupa Police Station falls by the wayside.
“This Court concurs with the submissions made by the Prosecution Counsel that there was some cover up done by the accused person (Mr. Kanyi) and some of his colleagues at Makupa Police Station to make the deceased’s death appear to be suicide,” justice Mwangi.
“This Court believes that after PW1 (Ms. Wanja’s brother) left Makupa Police Lines and after the deceased had consistently knocked at the accused person (Mr. Kanyi’s) door, she must have incensed him to the extent that he strangled her leading to asphyxia. That would explain the mark on a part of her neck. The accused person must have then tied the curtain fabrics around the deceased’s neck to make it look as if she had committed suicide. The Investigating Officer formed that opinion as to the cause of the deceased’s death.”
She said that the “stage managing” of the scene gave away Mr. Kanyi’s culpability in the commission of the offence as the deceased’s posture after death with her knees and feet touching the ground was not consistent with a person who had committed suicide.
