A decade-long search for justice has come to a close after the High Court in Meru convicted and sentenced a suspect in a complex murder case where the victim’s body was never recovered.
Lochuku Lekepei was handed a 10-year prison sentence after the court found him guilty of manslaughter in connection with the 2015 disappearance and death of Morris Munene Mate, a prison officer attached to Isiolo GK Prison.
In a statement, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) said the conviction followed years of meticulous investigations by homicide detectives, who pieced together forensic and circumstantial evidence to resolve the case.
“The conviction marks the culmination of painstaking investigations by Homicide detectives, who relied on forensic and circumstantial evidence to unravel the mystery surrounding the complex case despite the absence of the victim's body,” the DCI stated.
Court records show that Mate disappeared on July 23, 2015, after travelling to Oldonyiro in Isiolo North Sub-County for a business trip, never to be seen again.
Detectives later recovered crucial exhibits, including blood-stained clothing and a blood-stained stone at Mlima wa Chui, which became central to the prosecution’s case.
“DNA analysis confirmed that the blood and other items recovered belonged to the missing prison officer, while forensic analysis placed the convict in constant communication with the deceased and in the same geographical vicinity shortly before his disappearance,” the agency added.
Despite the absence of a body or eyewitness testimony, the High Court ruled that the available evidence proved beyond reasonable doubt that the officer had died as a result of an unlawful act.
In its judgment delivered on July 16, 2026, the court found that the chain of circumstantial evidence, supported by forensic DNA findings, pointed directly to Lekepei’s involvement in the killing.
“The court held that the circumstantial evidence, corroborated by forensic DNA examination, irresistibly pointed to the convict’s involvement in the unlawful killing,” the DCI noted.
The court consequently reduced the initial murder charge to manslaughter under Sections 202 and 205 of the Penal Code before sentencing Lekepei to 10 years in prison.