The Soroti High Court has heard that forensic DNA evidence links only one juvenile, identified as A6, to exhibits recovered during investigations into the murder of Joan Faith Apio, a Primary One pupil at Jozan Nursing and Primary School. Apio was found murdered in a school latrine on February 5, 2025.
The forensic evidence was presented as the court continued hearing prosecution witnesses in the trial of six adults accused of orchestrating the killing.
Ambrose Wilber Mugarurwa, a forensic biology analyst attached to the Directorate of Forensic Services, told the court that DNA analysis ruled out all the other suspects whose samples were submitted for testing, leaving only A6 linked to one of the exhibits. He said police submitted 18 exhibits to the Government Analytical Laboratory for DNA analysis.
The exhibits included blood samples from the accused persons, blood swabs collected from the crime scene, a tricycle padlock allegedly used to lock the victim in the toilet, a green cutter knife with a broken blade recovered from the latrine, a blue school sweater, white socks belonging to A6, and blood samples from both A6 and the deceased. He told the court that DNA tests confirmed the blood found on a jerrycan and on the floor of the school toilet belonged to Apio.
The analyst further testified that A6’s DNA was detected on a cutting taken from the waist and collar area of a blue school sweater and on the school badge that had been submitted as exhibits.
He further added that the laboratory was able to compare DNA profiles from the exhibits with those of the deceased and all the suspects, but only A6 matched one of the exhibits. The forensic evidence comes days after two juveniles admitted their involvement in the murder and were discharged by the High Court to become prosecution witnesses. The judge ruled that although the juveniles had participated in the crime, evidence suggested they had been manipulated by the adults.
The court also considered the period they had spent on remand and their age before ordering their discharge so they could testify for the prosecution. The six adults facing murder charges are school directors Joseph Okedi and Suzan Vivian Ariokot Okedi, headteacher James Edoket, police officer John Bosco Obotol, school cook Valentine Opio, and school matron Osula Adong. They have all denied the charges.
In her testimony, A6 told the court that on the day of the murder, school director Suzan Vivian Ariokot instructed her to bring one of the twin sisters to the school toilet, claiming they were going to meet their father. A6 said she led Joan Faith Apio to the toilet but became suspicious and hid nearby, and later saw Ariokot take Apio into the toilet before hearing the child scream.
A6 further alleged that she later found Apio lying on her stomach with her neck cut. She claimed Ariokot instructed her to collect a knife from the school canteen and, after she returned, used the knife to widen the wound on the child’s neck before removing an object from the throat and placing it in a black polythene bag, which she allegedly handed to Obotol. A6 said she remained silent because Ariokot threatened to kill her if she disclosed what she had witnessed.
The second juvenile witness, A7, who is the daughter of the school directors, also testified after the court found that she understood the importance of telling the truth. Before she took the stand, her mother, Suzan Vivian Ariokot, objected to her testimony, arguing that the child was not truthful.
However, A7 told the court that although she initially lied in her first police statement after being instructed by her mother, she later gave what she described as a truthful account to investigators at the East Kyoga Regional Police. She alleged that her mother confessed to killing Apio and warned her not to tell anyone.
A7 also claimed that later that evening, Ariokot returned to the school with Obotol, handed her the toilet keys and instructed her to dispose of them while again warning her to remain silent. The prosecution continues to present evidence in support of its case. Seven of the ten planned prosecution witnesses have so far testified before the court-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
