Arusha. The High Court, Bukoba Sub-Registry, has released Deus Boniphace after being satisfied that the prosecution’s evidence was insufficient to prove beyond reasonable doubt that he killed his mother, Ms Crisencia Boniphace (83).
The shocking murder is alleged to have occurred on May 22, 2024, in Kihinda Village, Kyerwa District, where Mr Boniphace is accused of attacking his mother with a machete, striking various parts of her body, including the head, face and mouth.
He is alleged to have surrendered to the Village Executive Officer (VEO) after committing the act and was later taken to the police.
The case was presided over by Judge Lilian Itemba, who delivered the verdict on Wesnesday, March 18, 2026, with a copy placed on the court’s online portal.
Judge Itemba stated that in violent crime cases, the prosecution has a legal duty to prove the offence beyond reasonable doubt.
She said the undisputed fact was that Ms Crisencia died an unnatural death, and the court’s task was to determine whether the prosecution’s evidence linked the accused to the murder, particularly as circumstantial evidence formed the basis of the case.
In her analysis, Judge Itemba explained that the confession evidence presented by witnesses was inconsistent, with differences between statements made in court and those initially recorded by police.
She noted that the warning statement allegedly recorded from the accused was not presented in court, leaving a major gap in the evidence.
The court also expressed concerns about the chain of custody of exhibits, noting discrepancies in records from the time evidence was collected to its submission to the laboratory and return.
Some key exhibits, such as blood-stained clothing, were not presented in court after seals had been broken without satisfactory explanation.
The court said that in his defence, the accused denied involvement in the killing, claiming he found his mother already dead and went to report the matter to the village authorities, although he later made statements that further raised doubts in the overall evidence.
Judge Itemba referred to legal principles regarding circumstantial evidence, stating that such evidence must directly point to the accused’s guilt without any other plausible explanation.
She said that in this case, gaps and doubts rendered the prosecution’s evidence legally insufficient.
“I have considered the testimony of the accused’s brother regarding the relationship between the accused and his mother, and the fact that he reported immediately to the second witness. Taking into account the accused’s behaviour in defending himself, these factors contradict the prosecution’s case,” said Judge Itemba.
“Given the circumstances of this case, there are many doubts affecting the reliability of the prosecution’s evidence. These doubts must be resolved in favour of the accused,” added Judge Itemba.
For these reasons, the court concluded that the prosecution failed to prove that the accused caused his mother’s death as required by law and ordered his immediate release, except if held for another lawful offence.
“Therefore, I find the accused, Mr Deus Boniphace, not guilty of the murder he was charged with, contrary to section 196 of the Penal Code as amended in 2022, and I acquit him of killing Ms Crisencia,” stated Judge Itemba.
Previously, according to the indictment, the accused was alleged to have killed his mother by attacking her with a machete, causing severe injuries that led to her death. The prosecution presented seven witnesses and six exhibits.
In giving his testimony, the second witness and Village Chairman, Mr Vicent Alfred, said the accused came to his office and confessed to killing his mother, prompting him to detain him briefly before taking him to the police station to report the matter.
The first witness, who examined the body, Dr Dickson Emmanuel, submitted a post-mortem report stating that the cause of death was severe head injuries leading to significant blood loss.
Scientific analysis also showed that blood found on the machete matched that of the deceased, while DNA traces were claimed to be linked to the accused.
The fifth witness, the accused’s elder brother, Mr Charles Boniphace, stated that after being informed by the second witness that the accused admitted killing their mother, he went to the scene and saw their mother’s body on the ground.
He said the accused was the youngest child in their family, very close to their mother, and that they were friends.
In his defence, Mr Deus Boniphace claimed he was living with his wife and four children and denied killing his mother.
He told the court that on the day of the incident he was fetching firewood and found his mother lying on the veranda already dead, after which he rushed to the second witness to report the matter. Instead, he was placed under watch and taken to Murongo Police Station.
He claimed that the second witness was lying in linking him to the murder, stating he was not at the scene and never wrote a warning statement to police, and that no one else was present where he found his mother dead.
