Three sentenced to death for murder
Dec 07, 2010
COURT in Tororo district has sentenced three men to death for killing a man identified as Bita Wajala three years ago.
By Moses Nampala
COURT in Tororo district has sentenced three men to death for killing a man identified as Bita Wajala three years ago.
Court heard that the accused, Constance Oguti, Sande Hamprey Okite and Patrick Sanya on August 12, 2008, in Sibodobui village in Busia, attacked Bita Wanjala and hacked him to death.
They accused him of illegally settling on their land.
While presiding over the case, Justice Stephen Musota on Friday said prosecution had produced enough evidence to convict the three men.
Before passing the sentence, Justice Musota evaluated the sequence of events as told by the witnesses who testified before court during the trial.
“You stormed the home of the victim with pangas and ordered him and his three children to go inside their grass thatched hut. You locked the door and set the house on fire,†Musota said.
One witness told court that the victim and his three children managed to force the door open, fleeing for safety, but he (Wanjala) was singled out, chased and hacked to death.
Among the witnesses during the trial were the deceased’s children, who survived the wrath of the attackers.
One of them moved court when he testified that he witnessed the accused cutting his father with pangas.
“I saw blood splattering when finally Oguti chopped off the head of my father,†narrated the boy.
Shortly after the incident, Police rounded up the suspects and took them to Busia Police Station, from where they were transferred to Tororo and later to Morukatipe prison.
COURT in Tororo district has sentenced three men to death for killing a man identified as Bita Wajala three years ago.
Court heard that the accused, Constance Oguti, Sande Hamprey Okite and Patrick Sanya on August 12, 2008, in Sibodobui village in Busia, attacked Bita Wanjala and hacked him to death.
They accused him of illegally settling on their land.
While presiding over the case, Justice Stephen Musota on Friday said prosecution had produced enough evidence to convict the three men.
Before passing the sentence, Justice Musota evaluated the sequence of events as told by the witnesses who testified before court during the trial.
“You stormed the home of the victim with pangas and ordered him and his three children to go inside their grass thatched hut. You locked the door and set the house on fire,†Musota said.
One witness told court that the victim and his three children managed to force the door open, fleeing for safety, but he (Wanjala) was singled out, chased and hacked to death.
Among the witnesses during the trial were the deceased’s children, who survived the wrath of the attackers.
One of them moved court when he testified that he witnessed the accused cutting his father with pangas.
“I saw blood splattering when finally Oguti chopped off the head of my father,†narrated the boy.
Shortly after the incident, Police rounded up the suspects and took them to Busia Police Station, from where they were transferred to Tororo and later to Morukatipe prison.