This archive report was first published on 17 December 2019.
On Tuesday, the High Court in Nyeri deferred the plea-taking of Peter Mugure, a former soldier accused of murdering his estranged wife and two children in Nanyuki.
Justice Jairus Ngaah made the decision after the Office of the Director of Public Prosecution (ODPP) applied for the postponement, citing that Mugure had not undergone a mandatory psychiatric test.
Senior Assistant Director of Public Prosecution Peter Mailanyi told the court that Mugure was taken to Nyeri Referral Hospital for mental evaluation on December 12, but there was no psychiatrist available to conduct the test.
Mailanyi explained that the King'ong'o prison authorities, where Mugure is detained, decided to have him escorted to the hospital on December 19. However, the prosecution is not in a position to have him answer to the murder charge until the mental assessment is completed.
Mugure's lawyer opposed the application, arguing that his client had been in custody for over a month and that the police had been delaying his trial.
The lawyer stated that Mugure was arrested on November 15 and that the police had been granted 21 days to detain him while completing investigations and having him take a plea. However, no good reasons have been advanced for the delay.
