The Director of Public Prosecutions has urged the court to lock up Philip Onyancha – the man who confessed to being a blood cult serial killer.
The DPP said Onyancha should never be released to the public as he is a danger to surviving victims and the loved ones of women and children he confessed to killing a decade ago.
Onyancha wants to be freed on bail pending the hearing and determination of his trial. But the DPP said given the fact that he is known and perceived as a serial killer, his life will eminently be in danger should he be released from custody.
“The dictates of justice also require that the accused ought to be kept away from members of the public who are most likely to fall prey to his diabolic tendencies and sucking of human blood,” reads an affidavit filed by senior assistant DPP Moses Omirera.
In the affidavit, the lawyer gives a chronology of events and murder discoveries leading to the arrest and consequent charging of Onyancha.
Onyancha, he said, was arrested following the kidnapping of Samuel Muiruri, a nine-year-old boy on April 14, 2014. He had demanded a ransom. After his arrest, he led the police to the arrest of Tobias Nyabuhanga Aradi and Douglas Makori.
He also confessed to killing other people among them Catherine Chepkorir whose body was retrieved at the Nairobi Water Sewerage, Jacqueline Misoi , whom he admitted to have strangled and left her hanging body in her bathroom at her house in Gikomba area.
The lawyer wants the court to also consider other facts including an admission by the accused to kidnapping and killing Martin Baraza a nine-year-old boy and another woman known as Mercy Chepkuriui in Naivasha.
“It is evident from the facts that the accused is facing three cases of homicide all which were committed in horrifying and mysterious circumstances and that should be found guilty , the court is most likely to met-out the maximum sentence provided for” adds Omirera.
The case against Onyancha was declared a mistrial early this year after High Court Judge James Wakiaga found that he had been charged under a wrong section of the law. The state wanted him found guilty of murder but insane.
The hearing could not proceed yesterday as Omirera asked for more time to get a doctor’s report.The prosecution has 15 witnesses, among them 13 police officers and two experts, to testify in the case.
The High Court in April declared a mistrial in the case against the self-confessed serial killer
Justice James Wakiaga faulted the prosecution, ruling the trial should have been conducted under section 162 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC) because it was clear from the beginning that Onyancha had a mental problem. The three were tried under section 166 of the CPC. The judge directed the file to be taken before Head of Criminal Division Justice Jessie Lesiit for fresh hearing of the case.
According to the prosecutor, Mr Onyancha is a dangerous person but needs help. Should he be released, Mr Omirera added, the accused person is likely to commit similar offences, mostly targeting women.
Mr Omirera told the court that there were three psychiatric examination reports filed in court and one of them, by Dr Owiti, noted that Mr Onyancha is likely to commit similar offences.
The first report on Onyancha was conducted at the time of his arrest. The report found that the alleged serial killer was fit to stand trial. But when he appeared in court for the first time in June 2010, his then lawyer Peter Simani informed the judge that Mr Onyancha had a mental problem and needed to be re-examined.