A Lawrence Superior Court jury found Patrick Waweru, 31, guilty by means of premeditated murder with atrocity and cruelty after deliberating for about three and a half hours Tuesday.Waweru, who showed no emotion as the verdict was read, was immediately sentenced to the mandatory punishment under the law for first-degree murder - life behind bars - by Judge Richard E. Welch, III.After listening to testimony for five days, the jury comprised of six women and seven men got the case around 11 a.m. after lawyers made their closing arguments. They reached a decision shortly before 2:30 p.m.In addition to the murder charge, jurors also decided he was guilty on five other charges, including home invasion, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, reckless child endangerment and armed assault with intent to murder. Jurors acquitted him on a second count of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.In addition to the life sentence, Waweru also received a sentence of 20 to 22 years on the home invasion, 10 to 15 years on the armed assault with intent to murder, another eight to 10 years on the assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and a year in the House of Corrections for child endangerment, but all those sentences will run simultaneously together with the 20- to 22-year prison term, instead of one after the other.

Waweru and Kinyanjui became estranged when Kinyanjui and their two children, along with Kinyanjui's mother, moved from Massachusetts to Newark, Del.Waweru, also known as "Mwangi," who last lived at 4 Kingsley Ter., called Kinyanjui a few days before the Oct. 15 murder and lured her on false pretenses to come back to Massachusetts for a court hearing involving the apartment they once shared in Peabody.She drove to Massachusetts with their two children and her mother on the night of Oct. 13 and went to her sister's home at 130 Adams St.Waweru met up with Kinyanjui the day before the attack and again on Oct. 15 at his Kingsley Terrace apartment where he apparently held her there until she convinced him to take her back to her sister's home, promising him she would get all her possessions in Delaware and move back to Massachusetts with him.

When they arrived at her sister's, she went inside to the basement and told her mother and sister that Waweru had lied to her about the court hearing and had held her hostage in his apartment all day.In the meantime, Waweru apparently became suspicious and forced his way into the home as the woman fought to keep the door shut.Waweru kicked open the door, as he held a two foot-long board and a knife strapped to one of his legs.He first lunged at Kinyanjui's sister Margaret, striking her on the head with the board, yelling "I have to kill Esther."Then he struck Kinyanjui and one of his children with the board, but then dropped it.Kinyanjui's mother, Ruth Nyamu, 57, jumped onto Waweru's back as he pulled the knife and began repeatedly stabbing Kinyanjui in the neck before fleeing to his East Lynn apartment, where he attempted suicide by medication overdose before police arrested him. Kinyanjui, who spent her childhood in Nairobi, Kenya, sustained more that 20 stab wounds to her neck, chest, back and arms.The couple had been involved in a relationship for approximately six years in which Waweru had physically abused and threatened Kinyanjui throughout their relationship, according to reports.Assistant District Attorney Kate B. MacDougall argued at trial that Waweru knew exactly what he was doing when he committed the murder, planned and carried it out and acted with cruelty and atrocity during the commission of the crime.Defense lawyer Russell C. Sobelman never disputed the fact that his client committed the fatal stabbing. He focused his defense on diminished capacity and corroborated his theory with a number of medical expert witnesses.Waweru, who did not take the stand in his own defense, had a past history of mental health issues.The trial will be appealed to a higher court.Waweru has been held without bail since his arraignment and has 985 days credit.

http://www.itemlive.com/articles/2010/06/23/news/news03.txt

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