How Sh180 cobbler fee handed man 10 years in jail
Courts
By
Daniel Chege
| Oct 13, 2025
On February 18, 2018, Douglas Ndegwa asked Patrick Muchiri, a local cobbler from Menengai Crater in Nakuru, to mend his shoes and those of his three children.
Ndegwa agreed to pay Sh180 for the service. After Muchiri finished the work, Ndegwa suggested that they go to a local shopping centre for him to get his payment.
Along the way, however, Ndegwa diverted to a friend’s house, and when he came out, he told Muchiri that he was not going to the centre.
When Muchiri asked for his payment, a confrontation ensued, and Ndegwa returned to his friend’s house, emerged holding a knife, and threatened to stab Muchiri.
READ MORE
How debt burden is denying the sick critical services
Manufacturers borrow Sh17b more on low interest market
Coffee sales at Nairobi exchange hit Sh36b
PS Muoria: Dual training turning youth into job creators, not job seekers
Freighters lobby in Sh10b deal to digitise logistics sector
Why IMF is yet to seal deal with Kenya
Old Mutual boss now joins ANCA leadership council
Battery cages or deep-litter floor for your layers?
Pay to pass:Treasury gives green light to Dongo Kundu tolling plan
General insurance claims ease as sector shows signs of recovery
“He stabbed Muchiri several times in the stomach, rendering him unconscious until the next day when he found himself in the hospital, receiving treatment,” court documents showed.
Muchiri underwent a blood transfusion and surgery, and after 12 days, he was discharged, but he remained weak and unable to eat or support himself.
Three days later, Muchiri narrated his ordeal to his brother, who reported the same to Bahati Police Station.
Ndegwa was arrested and charged with assault before the magistrate’s court in Nakuru. He denied the charges. On July 23, 2018, Muchiri told his story.
He, however, became weaker and on February 12, 2019, he succumbed to his injuries. Ndegwa’s assault charge was upgraded to a murder, which he also denied.
Titus Ngulungu, a pathologist who carried out the autopsy, said that Muchiri was emaciated due to poor nutrition and was missing 75 per cent of his intestines.
“The primary cause of death was injuries to the gut as a result of sharp trauma to the abdomen. He suffered multiple stab wounds to the stomach,” the doctor concluded.
The investigating officer testified that Muchiri identified Ndegwa as the assailant.
When he was put on his defence, Ndegwa, who appeared before Justice Julius Nangea, confirmed that he engaged Muchiri to mend his shoes.
He, however, claimed that they agreed that he would only pay Sh40 after getting change at the trading centre.
“The deceased (Muchiri) expressed doubt that I would pay him, and we started arguing. I decided to go to my friend’s place, but Muchiri, who was drunk, held and pulled me,” Ndegwa told the court.
He testified that he reacted by pushing Muchiri, causing him to fall down.
“I later learnt that he died. I did not stab him, and I suspect that he injured himself when I pushed him down using one of his sharp tools,” testified Ndegwa.
Despite his defence, judge Nangea found Ndegwa guilty of murder, ruling that the prosecution proved beyond a doubt that he killed Muchiri.
Nangea found Ndegwa guilty of murder and jailed him for 10 years.