Naftali Kinuthia, the sole suspect in the gruesome murder of Moi University Medical student Ivy Wangechi, on Tuesday asked an Eldoret Court for time to pursue a plea bargain with the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP).
Through his lawyer, Mbiyu Kamau, the suspect, whose murder trial was expected to kick-off yesterday, told High Court Judge Stephen Githinji that his client wanted to strike the deal with the DPP for a lesser sentence.
The trial failed to kick-off after the lawyer objected the proceedings saying he had only received some of the evidence that would be used to prosecute his client.
He asked the court for more time to go through the fresh evidence.
“Lawyers for the victim have just supplied me this morning in court with additional evidence that they intend to use against my client in the trial. I do not know what is contained in the evidence because I have not got time to go through them, ” he stated.
Read: Ivy Wangechi’s Murder Suspect Naftali Kinuthia Denied Bail
The prosecution, however, opposed the objection but admitted that they were introducing new evidence that will be used against the suspect.
The Judge allowed the prosecution more time to go through the fresh evidence as well as file a formal application for the plea bargain.
Kinuthia, who denied murder charges on April 30, has been remanded at the Eldoret GK Prison since his arrest in April this year.
He is accused of hacking to death Ivy at the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTRH) in Eldoret on April 9.
Read Also: Ivy Wangechi’s Killer Naftali Kinuthia Denies Murder Charges
In June this year, Justice Githinji denied the former SportPesa employee bail on grounds that he’ll interfere with key witnesses in the case as some of them, who were friends to Ivy, are well known to him.
Githinji also stated that granting the suspect bail would put his own life in danger.
The case will be heard on March 26, 2020.
Authorities have lined up 10 witnesses to testify against Kinuthia in the murder case.
According to the police, the 10 include boda-boda riders as well as her former colleagues at the Moi Referral Hospital, who witnessed the gruesome murder.
It is reported that his parents, as well as Ivy’s parents, are also set to testify in court against the suspect.
Ivy was laid to rest at her parent’s rural home on April 18 in Othaya, Nyeri County.
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