Ruth Wanjiku Kamande, the woman who stunned the nation in 2015 after stabbing her boyfriend 25 times in a violent domestic altercation, has lost her final bid to overturn her murder conviction.

In a ruling delivered by the Supreme Court, the judges firmly dismissed her appeal, effectively sealing her fate.

Kamande, who was just 21 at the time of the killing, had been in a relationship with Farid Mohamed Halim when things turned deadly one September night in Buruburu, Nairobi.

Court says Ruth driven by malice

After what was described as a heated argument, she repeatedly stabbed Halim all over his body in what the High Court later described as a calculated, cold-blooded act driven by malice.

Not panic or self-defence.

Sentenced to death

In 2018, Kamande was convicted of murder and sentenced to death by the High Court.

Her appeal to the Court of Appeal was also dismissed, with judges maintaining that the number and nature of the stab wounds clearly showed she intended to kill.

Still determined to fight for her freedom, Kamande moved to the Supreme Court, arguing that she had acted in self-defence and was a victim of what is known as battered woman syndrome.

Her legal team claimed she had suffered long-term emotional and physical abuse, which led her to act out of fear and trauma.

But in a firm ruling, the Supreme Court said the battered woman syndrome, while recognized in some legal contexts, is not a stand-alone defence in Kenya.

Beauty queen death sentence stands

The court emphasized that it can only support other existing legal defences such as self-defence, provocation, or temporary insanity not replace them.

Moreover, the judges noted that Kamande had failed to raise this defence at the appropriate time neither during her trial nor during sentencing.

It only surfaced during her appeal, with no prior medical or psychological evidence to support the claim.

The court was clear: defences must be properly and timely introduced, not left to speculation or late stage arguments.

The Supreme Court concluded that Kamande’s actions were intentional and deliberate, and that there was no sufficient proof she acted in self-defence or under extreme provocation.

Her final appeal was dismissed, though the court ordered that her KSh6,000 security deposit be refunded and no costs imposed.

With this ruling, Ruth Wanjiku Kamande remains on death row.