A man who was found guilty of the murder of a Siaya based journalist two years ago, has been sentenced to 35 years in prison.
James Ogola Luta, was sent to jail by Siaya High Court Judge, Lady Justice Roseline Aburili, who found him guilty of murdering the late Eric Oloo in 2019.
The deceased was a journalist with The Star Newspaper and was found dead in the house of a former Chief Inspector of Police, Sabina Kerubo in Ugunja Township.
Oloo and Kerubo, a former Staffing Officer at the Ugunja Divisional Police Headquarters, were living as a husband and wife when the incident occurred.
The Police Officer was however turned into a state witness after initial investigations exonerated her from the death of the journalist.
She later died in her house in Matungulu, Machakos County where she had been transferred after the incident, as the case was going on.
In her ruling, Lady Justice Aburili said the prosecution had proved its case against the accused.
The accused, in mitigation, had pleaded for leniency and forgiveness from the family of the deceased.
Luta said he had a young family to provide for and a mother who had suffered stroke and became paralyzed.
However, the judge, in her ruling, said no one was entitled to take away another person’s life and apologize afterwards for the offense.
She said that records from the Probation Office revealed that the 25-year-old had previously been charged with causing disturbance before Ukwala Law Courts hence was a Habitual Offender. Lady Justice Aburili gave Luta 14 days right of appeal.
Speaking to Kenya News Agency after the judgement, the late Eric Oloo’s family led by his uncle, Michael Oyugi expressed satisfaction with the judgement, saying that their son had got justice at last.
“I wish other judges could borrow a leaf from the case and judgement,” Oyugi told KNA outside the Siaya Law Courts.
By Calvin Otieno and Liz Akama
