Kisumu man jailed 12 years for killing wife in brutal assault

NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 7— A Kisumu man has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for the manslaughter of his wife of 18 years after the High Court found that an unlawful assault caused fatal blunt-force injuries to her head.

Justice Joe Omido sentenced Jared Otieno Otieno after convicting him of manslaughter in the death of Caroline Aoko Onyango, who died following the assault at Nyalenya village in Muhoroni Sub-County in November 2022.

The prosecution had initially charged Otieno with murder, but the court found that although he unlawfully assaulted his wife, he did not act with malice, leading to the manslaughter conviction.

Justice Omido said the prosecution, led by counsel Mercy Mutheu Muema, had proved beyond reasonable doubt that Aoko died from blunt-force trauma to the head sustained during the assault.

“Having considered the aggravating and mitigating circumstances in their totality, I find the aggravating circumstances outweigh the mitigating circumstances to an extent that it makes a custodial sentence necessary,” Justice Omido said.

In urging the court to impose a custodial sentence, Muema cited the impact of the killing on the couple’s four children, who she said had been left psychologically affected and living in distress following their mother’s death.

She also argued that Otieno had failed in his responsibility to protect his family and that the death resulted from gender-based violence committed by a spouse.

The court sentenced Otieno to 12 years’ imprisonment, with the sentence backdated to November 23, 2022, when he was first remanded in custody.

Otieno was granted 14 days to appeal the conviction and sentence.

​Bruhan Makong is a Senior News Reporter for Capital FM in Nairobi, covering diplomacy, foreign policy, national security, climate, and human rights across East Africa and the wider region.