This archive report was first published on 15 July 2019.
On July 15, 2019, Esther Arunga, a former Kenyan television journalist, pleaded guilty to being an accessory to murder after the fact to manslaughter in Australia.
Arunga, a former KTN anchor, admitted to lying to police in a bid to help her husband, Quincy Timberlake, avoid punishment for the death of their three-year-old son, Sinclair Timberlake.
Sinclair died due to blunt force trauma to the abdomen in 2014 in their family home in Kallangur, Australia.
Arunga initially told police that Sinclair had fallen down the stairs, but an autopsy later revealed that the cause of death was 'as a result of severe blunt force such as punching or stamping or similar', which was not consistent with a fall.
Arunga kept up the lie for 26 days before opening up when her husband was taken for a mental evaluation.
She then revealed that on the fateful night, she found Mr Timberlake hitting their son in the stomach and threw him against a wall.
Arunga confessed to the police that she did not speak up earlier because she was 'terrified of being alone and I felt terrible because my husband was sick as well.'
Arunga's defence lawyer, Katarina Prskalo, argued that Arunga had believed her husband was unwell and had tried to get him help in 2013.
Justice Martin Burns will sentence Arunga on Thursday.
