A woman has been convicted and jailed for 27 years after court found her guilty of knocking dead her best friend, whom she suspected of having a love affair with her husband. COURTESY PHOTO
A woman has been convicted and jailed for 27 years after court found her guilty of knocking dead her best friend, whom she suspected of having a love affair with her husband.
Ms Hadijah Namyalo Lutaaya, 29, was on Tuesday found guilty of murdering Eva Ndagire during a High Court session presided over by Justice Jane Frances Abodo.
“I find that the prosecution has proved beyond reasonable doubt that the accused caused Ndagire’s death. Consequently, I find the accused person guilty of the offence of murder contrary to section 188 and 189 of the Penal Code Act and accordingly convict her,” said the judge.
The conviction of Ms Lutaaya was grounded on the evidence of four prosecution witnesses including Ms Josephine Nakirija, the mother of the deceased.
Core to Ms Nakirija’s testimony, was that on September 23, 2014, at about 3pm, Ms Lutaaya went to her home and asked her to tell her daughter (Ndagire) to end her love affair with her husband.
Ms Nakirija went on to tell court that Ms Lutaaya further threatened that if Ndagire did not leave her man alone, she would harm her.
Ms Nakirija was able to identify the convict as the woman who approached her, hours before the death of her daughter.
The second prosecution witness Mr Joseph Ssonko, who witnessed the murder that evening, confirmed to court that the killer car Reg No. UAF 507L was being driven by Ms Lutaaya.
He said he saw the car speeding before knocking someone.
In her defence, Ms Lutaaya said she knocked her friend accidentally after her children distracted her as she was driving.
She also denied ever accusing her friend of having a love affair with her husband and therefore could not have had an ill intention against her best friend.