Africa-Press – Tanzania. THREE people have been sentenced to death after they were found guilty of killing four people.
Mr Aliyu Dauda, alias Hassan, Rashid Athumani and Ngesela Joseph killed four people including two lovers by slashing their throats.
The Court of Appeal ruled against the appeal under which the three killers, the appellants, had lodged to fault the High Court’s decision over killings of Vedasto John and his paramour Anastella Paschal, Emmanuel Joseph and Evodius Aloyce.
“We are of the view that the case against the appellants was proved to the hilt. Their convictions were therefore apposite and we find no legal reason to differ with the verdict of the trial court,” Justices Jacobs Mwambegele, Rehema Kerefu and Penterine Kente declared.
During hearing of the appeal, the counsel for the appellants had submitted, among others, that the High Court convicted his clients while the prosecution’s case relying on circumstantial evidence was not proved.
There was also a complaint on the trial judge’s failure to sum up the case properly to assessors.
In their determinations of the appeal in question, the justices agreed with the prosecution that the appellants were not convicted on circumstantial evidence only, as they were convicted on other evidence as well such as confessions in the cautioned statements.
The other evidence taken into consideration, according to them, was “the confessions in the DVD on how (the appellants) executed the murders, expert evidence on DNA which implicated the appellant as well as their lies which corroborated the prosecution case.” They held also that the trial Judge summed up to assessors on the ingredients of the offence of murder, circumstantial evidence, electronic evidence, confessions in the cautioned statements, the doctrine of recent possession and lies of the appellants to boost the prosecution case.
“We think the trial Judge left no stone unturned as to render the summing up to assessors deficient of any important point,” the justices said.
The appellants were alleged to have killed the deceased John and his paramour Anastella on November 1, 2015. On the night of that date, at about 22:00 hours, the two were on a drinking spree at Kilembo Internet Bar at Kashenge village, Katoma Ward within Bukoba District in Kagera Region.
The two lovers could not know that they were meeting for the last time. They imbibed there for quite some time and retired to their homes at around 23:00 hours. It was the evidence of a bodaboda cyclist that he was also at the bar with the two deceased, among others, but that left earlier.
Such a witness had taken a customer to a certain place where he had also spent some considerable time. While on his way home, he met four people who informed him about the murder of a woman, later realised to be Anastella, and that he saw blood stains on the road. While at the scene of the crime with other people, they saw another dead body in the vicinity.
It was covered with grass and later realised to be the body of John. The witness reported the matter to the village Chairman, who also went to the scene of the crime.
Few moments while still there, they received information that there were two dead bodies found at another area in the same village. The witness went thither and found a lot of people.
There, the body of his relative Emmanuel Joseph and another one of Evodius Aloyce were also recovered.
