A Ugandan-American man was sentenced to death on Thursday over the murders of four young children he stabbed to death at a kindergarten in Uganda’s capital.
Christopher Okello Onyum was arrested on April 2 as he tried to flee the day care centre in Kampala where he murdered the children aged 15 months to two-and-a-half years.
Prosecutors said Onyum, who holds Ugandan and US citizenship, confessed to the crime, believing the “human sacrifice” would help him become rich, though he eventually pleaded not guilty in court.
The judge rejected a claim of insanity, saying the “accurate and precise manner” of the killings made it clear it was pre-planned.
“I hereby sentence him to suffer death,” she said in the sentencing, to cheers from the public.
The court heard that Onyum had searched online for Islamic State beheadings and local schools with young children, but it was not clear if there was any political or religious motivation for the attack.
