A man who was charged with the murder of a special police constable on Monday admitted to committing the offence before Gulu high court.
John Ogil admitted before Lady Justice Margret Mutonyi that he killed Thomas Okidi, SPC No. 1576.
Ogil was subsequently convicted on his own plea of guilt. However the charge was downgraded to man slaughter after he admitted to not having had intentions of killing the police officer.
Prosecution led by Patrick Omia, told court that on September 19, 2013, Ogil came home and found the deceased having sexual intercourse with his wife on their marital bed.
Omia stated that on the fateful day at Railway quarters in Layibi division in Gulu Municipality, the Ogil physically assaulted Okidi leading to his death.
According to a postmortem reported signed by Dr Onen Olwedo from Gulu Regional Referral Hospital, the deceased sustained a deep cut wound on his head. Dr Olwedo explained that the assault damaged the brain tissues of the deceased. Dr Olwedo further noted that Okidi died as a result of hemorrhagic shock due to the deep cut wound on skull.
Prosecution asked court to hand the convict a severe penalty saying the reaction he (Ogil) exhibited was excessive though he found the deceased police officer having sex with his wife.
Prosecution added that a harsh sentence will help Ogil to reform and become a better person after serving his sentence.
However, Geoffrey Anyuru, the defence lawyer argued the murder and the suspect were friends. Anyuru claimed that the deceased infected Ogil’s wife with HIV/Aids and in turn Ogil also acquired the virus. Anyuru alleges that the sexual relation between Ogil’s wife and the deceased had gone on for they were caught in the act.
Anyuru accordingly asked court to release Ogil saying the 2 years and five months he has spent on remand is enough considering his HIV status and for being the sole bread winner.
Lady Justice Mutonyi adjourned the case to Tuesday March 1, 2016 for sentencing of the convict.
