Kericho, Kenya, Aug 24, 2011 / 23:50 pm
Three men have been sentenced to death for the 2009 murder of Fr. Gerry Roche, an Irish priest working in Kenya as a member of the St. Patrick’s Missionary Society.
Nine suspects had been accused in the death of the 68-year-old priest. On Aug. 23, three were found guilty of murder and sentenced to death by a court in Kericho. Two others were found guilty of handling stolen property, a cell phone. They were given the maximum sentence of 14 years.
The other four were acquitted.
The priest was tortured before being killed. He had fresh wounds and his hands were tied with a rope when his body was discovered on December 11, 2009, according to the Kenyan newspaper The Daily Nation.