A Rukungiri woman and her son have been sentenced to death for killing her husband.
Rukungiri High Court found Lydia Tumubweine and her 36-year-old son, Aitah Tukwasibwe, guilty of the murder of Caleb Turyatemba in 2008. Tumubweine and Tukwasibwe killed Caleb Turyatemba because he sold family land.
Prosecution led by State Attorney Martin Rukundo presented evidence that Aitah Tukwasibwe had an acrimonious relationship with his father over the family land. Tukwasibwe was seen on several occasions warning his father of dire consequences if he continued to sell family property without consent.
Caleb Turyatemba was a known alcoholic and often used the money from land sales to buy booze for him and his friends.
On January 26th, Turyatemba returned home drunk to find his wife and son waiting for him. Evidence presented showed that the two convicts strangled Turyatemba and abandoned his body in the house, the next day attending a wedding like nothing had happened.
Later in the day, a neighbor visited the dead man to buy tobacco from him. He reported the murder to the police who picked up Aitah Tukwasibwe and Lydia Tumubweine during the wedding.
The prosecution asked for the maximum penalty for Tumubweine and her son. He said the murder was premeditated and brutal.
Justice John Bosco Katutsi, the trial judge, agreed. He said there was no excuse for the pairs actions and directed that they hang for their crime.
