Kisumu man sentenced to death for killing son, wife, uncle and neighbour

A Kisumu man who confessed to slaughtering his seven-year-old son, wife, uncle and a neighbour in a chilling family massacre has been sentenced to death by the High Court, bringing to a close one of the country’s most disturbing murder cases.

Justice Joe M. Omido handed Shem Akuku Otieno, alias “Daddy”, the death sentence after finding him guilty on four counts of murder based on his own unequivocal plea of guilty.

The killings, which occurred on the evening of February 24, 2024, at Wagunga Village in Nyang’oma Location, Muhoroni Sub-County, left an entire community in shock and prompted a massive manhunt before the suspect surrendered to police.

The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP), led by prosecutor Mercy Mutheu Muema, told the court that Otieno embarked on a brutal killing spree shortly after 7 p.m., first hacking his seven-year-old son, Joseph Ouma Akuku, to death with a panga.

He then turned on his 26-year-old wife, Emily Adhiambo Akuku, before fatally attacking his 74-year-old uncle, Thomas Odula Nyameche, and finally killing his 56-year-old neighbour, Mary Kuya Otieno.

Court records further revealed that Otieno attempted to attack his sister, Monica Atieno, but she managed to escape after he stumbled while chasing her.

Following the attacks, he fled and hid in a nearby sugarcane plantation before later surrendering himself to police after learning that enraged residents were searching for him with the intention of lynching him.

A psychiatric assessment conducted after his arrest found him mentally fit to stand trial.

Although Otieno initially denied the charges and was assigned a pro bono advocate, he later dramatically changed course during the proceedings.

Appearing before the court, he requested to change his plea and openly admitted responsibility for the killings.

“I want to tell the court that I killed the four deceased persons. I want to plead guilty to all the four counts,” he said.

Justice Omido repeatedly warned him that murder carries the death penalty as the maximum punishment under Kenyan law and sought to establish that he fully understood the consequences of abandoning his not-guilty plea.

Despite the repeated caution, Otieno insisted on pleading guilty, telling the court he understood the legal consequences of his decision.

In a judgment underscoring the sanctity of human life, Justice Omido reflected on the devastating impact of the killings, invoking the words of English poet John Donne in Meditation XVII: “Any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind.”

The judge observed that every unlawful killing diminishes not only the immediate family of the victims but also society as a whole.

He described the murders as exceptionally grave, saying they involved “the systematic killing of four people at different locations, carried out through deception and an abuse of family trust.”

The court found that the murders were not crimes of impulse but a calculated sequence of attacks against close family members and a vulnerable neighbour, making the case one of the rare instances warranting the ultimate punishment.

Justice Omido also relied on the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Francis Karioko Muruatetu & Another v Republic (2017), which declared the mandatory nature of the death sentence unconstitutional while affirming that courts retain the discretion to impose capital punishment in exceptional cases.

The judge held that although Otieno was a first offender and had admitted the offences, the aggravating circumstances surrounding the murders overwhelmingly outweighed the mitigating factors.

He consequently sentenced Otieno to death for the murder of his son, Joseph Ouma Akuku.

The court also imposed identical death sentences for the murders of Emily Adhiambo Akuku, Thomas Odula Nyameche and Mary Kuya Otieno. However, those sentences will remain in abeyance for as long as the sentence imposed for the murder of his son remains in force.

Welcoming the judgment, state prosecutor Mercy Mutheu Muema said the sentence reflected the gravity of the offences and delivered justice to the victims and their families.

She also conveyed the condolences of the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions to the bereaved families, expressing hope that the verdict would offer them a measure of closure after the tragedy that claimed four lives and devastated an entire community.

Otieno was informed of his right to appeal both his conviction and sentence and was granted 14 days to challenge the High Court’s decision.