Syombua murder case: Drama in court as Mugure tries to avoid taking plea

There was drama in court on Friday after Peter Mugure who is accused of killing his wife and two children declined to take plea.

The first charge was read out but instead of replying appropriately, Mugure said he had an issue he wanted the court to address.

The confusion forced Nyeri High Court Judge Jairus Ngaa to enter a plea of not guilty.

Justice Ngaa then ordered the prosecution to supply the accused’s lawyer Njuguna Kimani with witness statements ahead of the January 23 pre-trial conference.

Kimani took over the case from Cliff Ombeta.

Mugure has been in custody for more than a month.

He is facing three charges of murdering his estranged partner Joyce Syombua and their two children in Nanyuki.

The bodies of the deceased were discovered on November 16 buried inside a shallow grave near the Laikipia army base.

This was three weeks after they were reported missing: they had left their home in Nairobi to visit Mugure at his place of work, which is also where he was residing.

That was the last time they were seen alive.

Postmortem results showed that Syombua died as a result of multiple blows to the head while her two children were strangled.