Jozan Ritual Murder: Woman Jailed for Life as Two Co-Convicts Get 35, 30 Years

Jozan Ritual Murder: Woman Jailed for Life as Two Co-Convicts Get 35, 30 Years

Co-director of the now closed school Suzan Vivian Ariokot

Soroti High Court has sentenced Susan Vivian Ariokot, the wife of the director of Jozan Nursery and Primary School, to life in prison for the ritual murder of five-year-old Joan Faith Apio, while her husband Joseph Okedi has been handed 30 years in jail and his brother Detective Corporal John Bosco Obotol was handed a 35-year sentence.

The High Court in Soroti District has sentenced three people convicted of murdering five-year-old Joan Faith Apio, a Primary One pupil at Jozan Nursery and Primary School, to life imprisonment, 35 years and 30 years respectively.

Justice Boniface Wamala sentenced Suzan Vivian Ariokot, the wife of fellow school director Joseph Okedi, to life imprisonment after finding that the aggravating circumstances surrounding the killing outweighed the mitigating factors.

Okedi was sentenced to 30 years in prison, while his brother, Detective Corporal John Bosco Obotol, was handed a 35-year sentence.

The court, however, acquitted and freed school cook Valentin Opio, headteacher James Edoket and school matron Osula Adong, ruling that the prosecution had failed to adduce sufficient evidence linking them to the murder.

Apio was found dead in a school toilet in Soroti City East Division on February 5, 2025, in a case that attracted widespread public attention across the Teso sub-region.

The prosecution had alleged that the child was unlawfully killed with malice aforethought. Six adults were initially charged with murder.

In his sentencing remarks, Judge Wamala said the offence fell within circumstances that could legally justify the death penalty, particularly because of the brutal manner in which the child was killed.

However, the judge said sentencing guidelines require the death penalty to be reserved for exceptional and “rarest of the rare” cases, meaning the court was required to consider both aggravating and mitigating circumstances before determining the appropriate punishment.

Judge Wamala said the court considered the gravity of the offence, the aggravating and mitigating circumstances and sentences imposed in comparable cases.

Among the aggravating factors, the judge cited the “horrific and inhumane” manner in which Apio was killed.

The court heard that the child suffered extensive injuries to her neck, resulting in severe blood loss. Judge Wamala said the evidence showed extensive damage to tissues, muscles and blood vessels in the child's neck.

The judge also described the killing as an act of child sacrifice, saying such conduct was “gross and evil” and had caused immense pain and trauma to the victim's family and the wider community.

He noted that the victim was only five years old and therefore particularly vulnerable, saying the case highlighted the dangers of child abuse and sacrifice.

Judge Wamala said the sentences should serve as a deterrent to the convicts and anyone else who might contemplate engaging in similar acts.

While sentencing Ariokot to life imprisonment, the judge said there was legal justification for imposing the death penalty, particularly given her circumstances, but that the mitigating factors did not justify imposing the ultimate punishment.

On Detective Obotol, Judge Wamala said that although he did not physically participate in the assault that led to Apio's death, the evidence showed that he was involved in planning and executing the murder.

The judge said Obotol's position as a police officer, whose responsibility is to detect, investigate and prevent crime, placed a higher duty on him.

Judge Wamala therefore sentenced him to 35 years in prison.

The court ordered that all three sentences take effect from the date of conviction.

It also ordered that money recovered from the convicts be handed over to Apio's parents to help meet expenses incurred during the burial.

The court further directed that properties belonging to the convicts be returned to their relatives.

The trial was concluded during a special High Court session in Soroti after about two-and-a-half weeks of proceedings.

Judge Wamala had set August 18 for the court assessors to give their opinions before delivering the final judgment.

The convictions and sentences bring to a close one of the most closely followed murder trials in Teso, following the death of the young pupil at Jozan Nursery and Primary School.