A lawyer suspected of killing colleague during a three-day house party at an Eldoret apartment in 2019 has a case to answer, Justice Robert Wananda of Eldoret High Court has ruled.

In his verdict that took less than 20 minutes on Thursday, Justice Wananda ruled that Abel Mogaka who has since relocated to Nairobi City will stand trial for the grisly murder of colleague Calvin Ngaira.

“Now that the prosecution has established its case after providing enough evidence against you, the court will put you on defence to prove otherwise,” the judge ruled.

The judge stated that evidence produced in court during the proceedings showed that Mogaka was at the scene of the tragic incident that led to the death of his colleague on the fateful day. Mogaka was charged with the murder of lawyer Calvin Ngaira on May 10, 2019.

The lawyer who is represented by Evans Miyenda denied the charge and was freed on a Ksh1 million bond.

Mogaka is said to have used a broken beer bottle to stab his colleague in the neck leading to his death during a house party in Annex area along the busy Eldoret-Nakuru Highway on the outskirts of Eldoret City.

The court heard that Mogaka allegedly used the broken beer bottle to fatally stab Ngaira during the party where he, alongside other 10 colleagues in the legal profession, had been hosted by their friend Roy Barasa at his apartment.

According to court documents, a brawl over a bottle of beer ensued between Mogaka and the deceased leading to a vicious fight in the house party where Ngaira was allegedly murdered.

Barasa is said to have hosted the lawyers whom he studied law with at the Kenya School of Law at his Siritui apartment for a three-day drinking spree.

The apartment is owned by Edwin Tarno, the head of the Kenya Technical Training Institute who until his promotion five years ago was the Chief Principal of Eldoret-based Rift Valley Technical Training Institute.

During the trial, the court was told that a commotion erupted inside the house before extending outside where the slain lawyer was stabbed to death by his colleague.

One of the state witnesses, DCI Inspector Sofia Ibrahim Hassan based in Eldoret produced CCTV footage of the incident and told the packed court that the fight was over a bottle of beer that the accused is said to have served his friend who had accompanied him to the house party.

The deceased, the court was told, demanded to know who had given Mogaka permission to serve the beer to a stranger in their house party who it later emerged was not a lawyer.

“The difference over a bottle of beer escalated outside the house leading to a vicious fight, leading to stabbing of the deceased on neck by his colleague where he died while receiving treatment at a private hospital where he had been rushed,” Inspector Hassan said.

 Ngaira had barely practiced law for three months before he met his grisly death.

Another key witness, former Moi University student Edith Chebet told the court that she witnessed the incident as it unfolded at the house party.

“The fight between the accused and the deceased started right inside the house following an altercation and extended outside for some time,” stated Chebet.

The former university student told the court that after Mogaka allegedly stabbed his colleague in the neck, he dropped the broken glass on the ground.

She added, “I even took photos of the pieces of glass using my mobile phone. We had tried to separate the two before things got worse,” added Chebet.

The Judge directed that the accused present himself in Court on December 16, 2025 for defence hearing.

• A Tell Media / KNA report / By Ekuwam Sylvester