MOMBASA, Kenya -- The defense Friday called on the judge to acquit American James William Tyson because of lack of evidence connecting the U.S. Navy sailor with the murder of a Kenyan bar girl last April.
Therequest came after the prosecution ended its case with the announcement that it was withdrawing two key witnesses. Three previous state witnesses were unable to identify Tyson as the man seen leaving the guest house the night Lucy Kabura was murdered.
High Court Judge Zacharia Chesoni said he would give his ruling on the defense plea Monday. If he rules in favor of the defense, Tyson will be acquitted and free to leave Kenya.
Tyson, 21, of Riverdale Md, a fireman aboard the aircraft carrier USS America had pleaded innocent to charges of strangling Miss Kabura, 25, whose body was found on a bed in a $5 per night rooming house in Mombasa last April 5.
The trial opened Monday with Tyson facing a possible death sentence if convicted.
Following Prosecutor James Metho's surprise announcement closing the case, defense attorney Prem Prinja asked the judge to order Tyson's aquittal on grounds of insufficient evidence.
According to a statement read in court Tyson's defense centered on an alibi that he was with three fellow sailors and two local women at the Oceanic Hotel casino at the time Miss Kabura was murdered.
A copy of the casino register with Tyson's signature in it was presented in court.
The America was one of nine ships in Monbasa on a six day goodwill and resupply visit.
In a similar case three years ago, American sailor Frank Joseph Sundstrom, then 19, an apprentice fireman aboard the USS La Salle, admitted killing prostitute Monica Njeri, 30, with a beer bottle.
Sundstrom pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of manslaughter to escape the gallows. He was convicted and fined $35 but was released, touching off a series of protests in Parliament and the press.
The U.S. government paid $14,000 in compensation to the Njeri family. The settlement was termed an insult and 'peanuts' by the local press. Tyson turned down a similar plea bargain offer to go ahead with the murder trial.
