Australian Court to Sentence Esther Arunga for Lying about Her Son’s Death

An inquest into the mysterious death of former Kenyan television queen Esther Arunga’s three-year-old son has taken a new twist. 

This comes after Ms. Arunga on Monday pleaded guilty to being an accessory to murder after the fact to manslaughter

Ms. Arunga admitted to lying to Australian police about what transpired moments before the boy was pronounced dead to cover up her husband, Quincy Timberlake. Timberlake is accused of killing their son Sinclair Timberlake.

The minor succumbed to severe internal injuries at their home in Kallangur, north of Brisbane in 2014.

Ms. Arunga said the boy had fallen down the stairs when she called the emergency services, Crown Prosecutor Danny Boyle told the court.

Australian Associated Press reported that an autopsy later revealed that the death was “as a result of severe blunt force such as punching or stamping or similar”, which was not consistent with Ms. Arunga’s claims that he fell down the stairs.

Boyle further told the court that Ms. Arunga confessed what happened 26 days later when her husband was taken for a mental evaluation.

Ms. Arunga said that she found Timberlake hitting their son in the stomach on the fateful night and threw him against a wall.

She said Timberlake believed the boy had a devil in his stomach and was trying to get it out.

“I was terrified of being alone and I felt terrible because my husband was sick as well,” she confessed to police as quoted by Australian Associated Press.

Prosecutor Boyle told the court that although Ms. Arunga did not interfere with evidence, she caused delays in the investigations and the arrest of the suspect.

Arunga’s attorney Katarina Prskalo told the court that her client believed her husband was ill and had tried to get him help in 2013.

“She had not realized how unwell he was until the night of her son’s death,” Prskalo said adding that Ms. Arunga also had her own mental issues.

Ms. Arunga will be sentenced by Justice Martin Burns on Thursday this week.