Former Kenya Defence Forces Major Peter Mugure before Milimani Law Courts on July 14, 2026 /EZEKIEL AMING'AFor neighbours and colleagues, Peter Mwaura Mugure was a disciplined Kenya Army Major entrusted with protecting the nation.
But behind the uniform lay a chilling plan that would end the lives of his two young children and their mother.
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Nearly seven years after the October 2019 killings, justice yesterday finally caught up with the former military officer as the High Court in Milimani sentenced him to life imprisonment.
This is after the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) secured his conviction on three counts of murder.
Mugure has said he will appeal his conviction on three counts of murder but will not challenge the sentence imposed by the High Court.
Addressing the court before sentencing, Mugure said he respected the court's decision despite disagreeing with its findings and had instructed his lawyers to challenge only the convictions.
"For the record, my name is Major Mugure of the Kenya Defence Forces," he told the court.
"Your Lordship, you and I have walked step by step through this highly charged and emotive public criminal trial, right from PW1 to PW26 up to this very moment in time. I understand and fully appreciate the weight of expectations placed on the shoulders of Your Lordship in the hearing and determination of this matter."
"Having delivered a verdict of guilt on all three counts, I respect the decision of the court, for it presently legally binds me in ways no one can possibly imagine. Nevertheless, and with tremendous respect to the court, in principle I am unable to agree with the verdict."
In his decision Justice Martin Muya observed that Mugure had shown "no iota of remorse" throughout the trial and described the killings as "barbaric."
The prosecution had urged the court to impose the death penalty, but he was instead sentenced to life imprisonment on all three counts, to run concurrently, noting the growing prevalence of infanticide and femicide and the need for deterrent punishment.
"The accused showed no iota of remorse. These barbaric acts, amid rising infanticide and femicide, demand severe punishment," ruled Justice Martin Muya.
The court heard that Mugure, then stationed at the Laikipia Air Base, lured his family to the military installation under the guise of an ordinary family visit on October 25, 2019.
What appeared to be a routine reunion was, in reality, the final stage of a carefully orchestrated plan.
Prosecution painstakingly reconstructed the events leading to the murders, presenting compelling evidence that exposed the calculated nature of the crimes.
Evidence showed that on the morning of October 26, of that year, Mugure took his two children out, purportedly to show them around the airbase, before killing them.
Later that evening, he murdered their mother.
Rather than report the deaths, prosecution proved that Mugure concealed all three bodies in the boot of his vehicle before driving them away from the airbase and dumping them at a remote location.
Perhaps the most damning evidence came from witnesses who testified that the former army major had visited the burial site three days before the killings and arranged for a shallow grave to be dug.
That testimony convinced the court that the murders were not spontaneous but meticulously planned.
