Profile of a killer: Who is Joseph 'Jowie' Irungu?

Thirty-three-year-old Joseph Irungu alias Jowie has started to serve his death sentence which he received on Wednesday in a murder trial that kicked off in 2018.

Yet even after 6 years of a murder trial, his true character has been difficult to discern.

Citizen TV takes a look at a man who grew up holding the bible, and trained in food production but ended up playing with guns as a licensed private security provider.

For a man praised by his family, community and church as social, a committed Christian and harmless, his conviction shocked many who interacted with him in Gucha estate, Nakuru County.

About 33 years ago in the quiet neighbourhood of Gucha Estate Julius Irungu and his wife Anastacia Thama were blessed with a bouncing baby boy whom they named Joseph Kuria Irungu.

Having been born in a Christian family, Irungu was brought up with Christian values and was introduced to church activities at an early age which his family states shaped his character as he grew up.

This was even echoed by Lady Justice Grace Nzioka who read the family's report in court.

"They described him as a social, overly generous, respectful to authority, committed Christian," said Nzioka.

The convicted killer released a number of gospel hits when he was released on a Ksh.2 million bail after an initial 18-month tenure in prison.

Jowie was a darling not just to his family but also to the local community and the church who regarded him highly.

"The community vouched for his good character, social standing as they have known him to be a respectable youth committed to church activities," said Nzioka.

He completed his secondary school in 2010 and joined The Technical University of Kenya (TUK) in 2011 (at the time was Kenya Polytechnic). He graduated with a diploma in food production later that year.

Upon completing his studies, he moved to Dubai where he trained in tactical military at Dubai Police Academy. He was trained by the O'gara group, an international security firm, and acquired a license to offer private security.

"At the time he was arrested he was providing security in Kenya mostly to persons in the political sector and he was at an advanced stage of opening his own security firm," said Nzioka while delivering her judgment.

However, Jowie seems to have changed after acquiring the all-important military training if the words of Maxwell Otieno, the Investigating Officer in the murder case are anything to go by.

"He says he was an extremely dangerous person, violent in nature, he was involved in an assault case with one Rodgers at club 1824 when he was out on bond in this matter," Nzioka read Otieno's report.

For a young man committed to church and his family, questions abound on what could have pushed him to commit the crime.

Jowie's sentence marked the culmination of the country’s most-watched murder trial to date.

The Supreme Court then, In the case of Francis Karioko Murutatetu & Another vs. the Republic, Petition No. 15 & 16 of 2015, declared the mandatory nature of the death sentence for murder, unconstitutional.

After 2017 the death penalty could still be rendered for murder but at the discretion of a judge.

The execution was still set as the maximum penalty but was not to be the only penalty for murder.

By the end of 2022, there were 656 people recorded on death row in Kenya. 

A total of 79 death sentences were handed down that year alone according to an Amnesty International report.