This archive report was first published on 12 May 2020.
On May 30, 2017, Justice Stella Mutuku sentenced Jane Nambuye Manyonge to death for killing her husband Francis Mulumeti at their home in Riruta Dagoretti in 2013.
However, in a recent appeal, the Court of Appeal reduced the sentence, citing a recent legal jurisprudence that states it is not compulsory for a convict to receive the mandatory sentence provided for in law.
According to the court, each case should be considered on its own circumstances, and in this instance, the appellant was a first offender.
Justices Mohammed Warsame, Asike Makhandia, and Jamila Mohammed stated, "In keeping with the recent jurisprudence, we hereby set aside the death sentence imposed on the appellant."
Manyonge, a 51-year-old teacher, had denied killing her husband throughout the trial, but the judges noted that circumstantial evidence pointed towards her.
The court considered various factors, including the fact that the victim and the convict were the only people in their house on the fateful evening, and that there were blood stains all over the house and a knife was found with blood stains.
