Killer Arrested

THE KILLER ARRESTED?

Dr Fitz de Souza, Deputy Speaker in the National Assembly: A taxi driver drove me and a Nairobi CID officer, an Englishman, around the streets and within a short time identified a young African man in a red shirt. After being placed under arrest, the 22-year-old Kisilu Mutua, admitted to shooting Pinto.

SUNDAY NATION, 1 February 1998

After serving 35 years in jail, President Moi pardoned Kisilu Mutua and ordered his release on 4 July 2001. He was 22 years old when he was arrested.

Kisilu Mutua then sued the Attorney General, seeking a declaration that his rights under the 1963 constitution had been violated when he was tortured while in police custody. He wanted the court to award him exemplary and punitive damages.

Mutua said that on 24 February 1965, he was arrested by six people while drinking at the New Rwathia Bar with friends. He was interrogated and severely tortured by European and African police officers who wanted him to confess to murdering Pinto, and was forced to sign a statement confessing to the murder. On 5 July 1965 he was charged with the murder before Chief Justice Sir John Ainley and sentenced to death on 15 July1965.

Mutua appealed the conviction and sentence, but on 12 November 1965, in proceedings that took less than 30 minutes, his appeal was dismissed without any judgment being written. Mutua was held at the Kamiti Maximum Security and Naivasha prisons for the 36 years. He maintained he was never told when the death sentence imposed upon him would be executed or the terms on which it was being commuted.

12 March 2015 The Star reported:

Man jailed for Pinto murder sues state

Kisilu Mutua, 21, was arrested and charged with the crime of killing Pio Gama Pinto. The sentence to hang was subsequently commuted to life imprisonment. He was released 37 years later and insisted that he had not killed Pinto. So, then who had pulled the trigger that February morning, and with whose instructions? Chief Justice Ainley delivering his judgement could not help expressing the feelings of many to this day. He stated, “. . . it must be conceded that the case wears an unfinished aspect and that we may not have all who were involved in the crime before us . . .” After the verdict on 15 July 1965, Pio’s brother Rosario wrote a personal letter to Kenyatta stating that he was not at all happy with the outcome of the trial.

On 20 May 2017 Nation reported:

Kisilu Mutua, jailed for Pinto murder, awarded Sh2m

“I must clarify that this award is for the torture subjected to the petitioner while in the hands of the police, but not for trial and conviction,” said Justice Mativo. Mr Kisilu was initially challenging his trial and conviction but decided to drop the issue.

Citizen Digital on 20 May 2022 reported: Man Convicted For Killing Pio Gama Pinto Claims Life In Danger, 20 Years After His Release

80-year-old Kisilu Mutua sought Government help for the threats he was receiving from unknown assailants over a land tussle, in Eastleigh, Nairobi. The land was given to him by the Government for his carpentry workshop. “I have never done anyone wrong, I was falsely accused and did 36 years in prison. And it’s the government that put me here. I have built a home here, I need help. I am scared for my life,” Kisilu pleaded. “I survived being hanged in Kamiti Maximum Prison, to come to die in freedom!”