Body parts murder case referred to PG

KENYAN nurse Kenneth Orina, who is accused of murdering and dismembering his wife at Grootfontein in September last year, moved a step closer to his eventual trial when he made another appearance in the Grootfontein Magistrate’s Court on Friday.

Appearing for a fifth time in the court of the town where he is alleged to have murdered his wife, Rose Chepkemoi Kiplangat (33), between September 13 and 17 last year, Orina (35) heard that at the request of Public Prosecutor Frieda Matsi his case was being referred to the Prosecutor General for a decision to be taken on the prosecution that he is facing. The Prosecutor General now has to decide on what charges to prosecute Orina, and in which court he should stand trial.Orina, who remains in Police custody, has to appear in court at Grootfontein again on September 19.He was represented by a Directorate of Legal Aid lawyer, Kenneth Siambango, with Friday’s appearance before Magistrate Leopold Hangalo.However, with Orina having previously indicated that lawyer Richard Metcalfe would be representing him, the court was told that although he had been granted legal aid, Orina would still be considering whether to make use of the services of a legal aid counsel or not.Orina is facing counts of murder, defeating the course of justice and violating a dead body at this stage.He pleaded guilty to all three charges when he made a second court appearance at Grootfontein on November 20 last year, three weeks after his arrest.During the plea proceedings Orina told Magistrate Hangalo that he and his wife had an argument in their flat – they lived at the Grootfontein State Hospital Nurses’ Home – on September 14 last year.He related that his wife told him she was going to kill him and at one stage threatened him with a knife.During a struggle for the possession of the knife, his wife was cut on her neck and accidentally killed, he claimed.Orina told the Magistrate that after he realised that his wife had died, he became “confused”.This led to him cutting up her body and discarding the body parts at various spots in and around Grootfontein.Kiplangat’s head and forearms were found in a plastic refuse bag alongside a street passing by the Grootfontein State Hospital on September 17.Her lower legs and upper arms were found on the southwestern outskirts of the town on September 22, while her torso and thighs were found, also in that area, three days later.The remains were initially incorrectly identified as those of a former resident of Gochas, but this identification proved to be wrong when the supposedly dead woman turned up alive at Outjo in mid-October.Orina was arrested on October 30.The Prosecutor General now has to decide on what charges to prosecute Orina, and in which court he should stand trial.Orina, who remains in Police custody, has to appear in court at Grootfontein again on September 19.He was represented by a Directorate of Legal Aid lawyer, Kenneth Siambango, with Friday’s appearance before Magistrate Leopold Hangalo.However, with Orina having previously indicated that lawyer Richard Metcalfe would be representing him, the court was told that although he had been granted legal aid, Orina would still be considering whether to make use of the services of a legal aid counsel or not.Orina is facing counts of murder, defeating the course of justice and violating a dead body at this stage.He pleaded guilty to all three charges when he made a second court appearance at Grootfontein on November 20 last year, three weeks after his arrest.During the plea proceedings Orina told Magistrate Hangalo that he and his wife had an argument in their flat – they lived at the Grootfontein State Hospital Nurses’ Home – on September 14 last year.He related that his wife told him she was going to kill him and at one stage threatened him with a knife.During a struggle for the possession of the knife, his wife was cut on her neck and accidentally killed, he claimed.Orina told the Magistrate that after he realised that his wife had died, he became “confused”.This led to him cutting up her body and discarding the body parts at various spots in and around Grootfontein.Kiplangat’s head and forearms were found in a plastic refuse bag alongside a street passing by the Grootfontein State Hospital on September 17.Her lower legs and upper arms were found on the southwestern outskirts of the town on September 22, while her torso and thighs were found, also in that area, three days later.The remains were initially incorrectly identified as those of a former resident of Gochas, but this identification proved to be wrong when the supposedly dead woman turned up alive at Outjo in mid-October.Orina was arrested on October 30.