Justice Moses Kazibwe has convicted Brian Bagyenda, son to the Internal Security Organisation (ISO) Director Col. Kaka Bagyenda for killing his 22-year-old girlfriend Enid Twijukye, a former student of Ndejje University.
Brian and his two co-accused Innocent Bainomugisha, a cleaner and Vincent Rwahwire, a casual labourer were found guilty of effectively planning and executing the murder of Enid.
In his ruling, Justice Kazibwe dismissed claims of Brian not being mentally stable at the time of committing the crime. He said Brian was mentally normal in his senses at the time of the committal of the offense and he committed it with malice aforethought.
He relied on evidence including the fact that Bagyenda sent his maid away to Kalerwe as he planned the murder, closed all his house windows and curtains and after the murder, he first disappeared to Masaka and later returned not at his home in Luzira but hid in a hotel under a different name.
Justice Kazibwe further relied on the confession statement made by Bagyenda at Jinja road Police Station in which he confessed to have killed her after finding out that she was having another man, tying her body and dumping it in an isolated place for it to never be recovered.
Prosecution had earlier asked for a death penalty to be handed to Bagyenda but Justice Moses Kazibwe has sentenced him and his co-accused to 32 years in Prison each.
“Life is sacred to be taken in non-legal circumstances. The deceased was a young person responsible for assisting her family and had a future ahead but all these were cut short by the inconsiderate and criminal behaviours of the convicts,” he said before adding that Bainomugisha and Rwahwire could have avoided participation in committing murder.
“They are not robots to be ordered contrary to the submission of their lawyer who insisted that they acted under the command of A1 (Bagyenda). But I do not find this to be rare of the rarest cases meriting the death sentence. A custodial sentence is fitting in the circumstances considering all the mitigating factors,” Justice Kazibwe said before sentencing them to 32 years each.