High Court Sentences Former USIU Student to Death for 2012 Murder

High Court Judge Kanyi Kimondo sentenced former United States International University-Africa student Duncan Livingstone Kimathi to death for the 2012 murder of fellow student Sarah Akello Aruwa, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions announced on Thursday, October 29, 2026.

The court found Kimathi, 37, guilty of abducting and killing Aruwa between June 30 and July 1, 2012, after demanding a ransom of KSh100,000 from her family, which was later negotiated down to KSh70,000.

Prosecution led by Millicent Kigira called 17 witnesses who testified about the abduction, the ransom demands and the murder, establishing that Kimathi lured Aruwa using a false identity and a mobile number linked to him.

Evidence included subscriber and call data records showing the number 0717370647, registered to Kimathi, appearing in the victim’s notebook and used to receive the ransom; a hired Toyota NZE Saloon (registration KBH 642R) was tracked to Ngewa and Githunguri; and police recovered the victim’s bra, panties and a blood-stained top from a house in Savannah where Kimathi’s girlfriend Wairumi lived.

A post-mortem by pathologist Dr Johansen Oduor revealed a laceration at the back of the head, bruises on the neck and a protruding tongue, with the cause of death recorded as manual strangulation.

Justice Kimondo concluded that the systematic abduction and killing demonstrated malice aforethought and sentenced Kimathi to death under Sections 203 and 204 of the Penal Code.

The trial proceeded in the absence of a co-accused who fled after being released on bail, as ordered by the court.