Suspects in killing of mother and 5 children deny charges

Steven Baribwirumuhungu, the prime suspect in the murder of six people from one family in Ruhango District, and his co-accused duo, have pleaded not guilty to all charges leveled against them. They were on Tuesday appearing before Muhanga Intermediate Court in a public area in Kamusenyi Cell, Byimana Sector, the scene of the crime. However, prosecution charged that Baribwirumuhungu, Livin Uwayisenga and Tito Mugemanyi, conspired to carry out the cold blooded murder in July last year. The two co-accused are brothers. The prime suspect had, during a previous hearing, entered a guilty plea. The suspects are charged with murdering six members of a family, including a mother Josephine Kankesha, in her mid 40s, and her five children – three boys and two girls– on the night of July 31, 2014 in Kamusenyi Cell. Prosecution wants life sentences for the suspects. The fourth suspect, Leonidas Simbarubusa, from Ngororero District, is accused of harbouring Baribwirumuhungu after the latter had allegedly killed the family and fled from Byimana. Court heard that the victims’ family had accommodated Baribwirumuhungu after he escaped from Muhanga prison where he was serving a sentence for murder. The prosecution also asked court to hand a five-year jail term and a fine of Rwf1 million to Simbarubusa for hosting a prisoner on the run. Baribwirumuhungu was arrested on August 15 from Simbarubusa’s home in Ngororero. Baribwirumuhungu, 31, born in Ntongwe Sector, Ruhango District denied the charges saying he had been coerced into making earlier confessions. (R−L) Steven Baribwirumuhungu defending himself for the murder charges filed against him as Simbarubusa, Uwayisenga and Mugemanyi wait for their turn. But he admitted he had stayed at Sylvestre Ngayaberura’s home for up to three weeks. He also claimed he had been shocked by the death of the six people because he was friends with the Ngayaberura’s family. Ngayabererura was, at the time of the killings, himself an inmate in the same prison where Baribwirumuhungu had escaped. Uwayisenga, 24, and Mugemanyi, 24, were arrested following the recovery of a blood- soaked jacket at the scene of the murders which prosecution said was identified by 20 witnesses as it was regularly worn by the two brothers from Byimana Sector. Uwayisenga and Mugemanyi denied any links to the jacket. Simbarubusa confessed to illegally harbouring Baribwirumuhungu and pleaded for pardon. Maitre Emmanuel Ndegeya, the prosecutor, said Baribwirumuhungu killed the six family members after landing on a letter from Ngayaberura to his wife, Kankesha, asking her to throw Baribwirumuhungu out of their home since he had escaped from prison and the family could be reprimanded in case authorities got to know about it. Defence counsel Félicien Yamuragiye urged lenient sentence for Simbarubusa, 53, since he had allowed to take in Baribwirumuhungu after the latter claimed that he had survived a fire that had gutted Muhanga prison around the same time. Prosecution said Baribwirumuhungu escaped after Muhanga Prison caught fire, at the time when inmates were being relocated to Mpanga Prison in Nyanza District. Prosecution wants the accused to pay Baribwirumuhungu Rwf30 million in indemnity and Rwf20 million in damages. Presiding judge Adolphe Udahemuka set May 20 as the date of the ruling. editorial@newtimes.co.rw

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Suspects in killing of mother and 5 children deny charges