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Thinking back, I don’t know what got into me. I was acquitted from murdering Patrick Bagosora, and it is something I have been reflecting on over the years.
A part of me wants to believe it was divine intervention. Jesus had seen how people suffered because of Patrick’s action and chose me to be his angel of death. However, for this to be true, Jesus would also have chosen to make me infertile, and stopped me from bringing the Nyamwasa bloodline back. This was what caused me to reach my breaking point. This raised an important question; would the lord of mercy allow a woman to suffer so she could carry out his will as an avenger?
Another theory is that the juries sympathised with my predicament and chose to look the other way. Yes, I had livestreamed my psychotic ramblings when I took a pistol and shot Patrick’s already dead body, thus nullifying me from murdering him. However, why didn’t they ever conclude that I was the one who poisoned him? There must have been witnesses or security videos that showed how I had drinks with him the day before?
Looking back on the last day of my trial, I remember the relief I felt when the judge read on my final verdict.
It was a steamy autumn day, and the courthouse in Adelaide was full of people. Media from all over the world, particularly from Rwanda, had come to witness the last day of my trial and final statement. My lawyer outlined the crimes that Patrick Bagosora and his uncle Théoneste Bagosora had committed against the Rwandan people. While the United Nations had convicted Théoneste many years earlier, Patrick on the other hand had continued his life of crime, funding terrorism and insurrection by smuggling blood diamonds all over the world. I claimed that I had intended to kill Patrick, but didn’t know that he was already dead when I shot him in his sleep.
My speech swayed the juries, and it was a great relief when the chairman of the jury declared that they considered me to be not guilty of Patrick’s murder. I did get convicted of a few minor offences, such as a desecrating a dead body and endangering others through firing off a firearm in a confined space. The court sentenced me to two years of imprisonment for my crimes, and of this they deducted the four months which I had been in police custody.
***
I WAS WRITING ON MY autobiography in my cell in Adelaide’s Women Prison, when the guard told me I had a visitor. I hoped that it would be Jakob, as we had hardly spoken to each other since the ordeal.
It turned out to be my lawyer and a representative for a publishing house. My lawyer Alice spoke. “Hi Samantha. I was so fascinated by your case, so I ran it by my friend Neil who is running a publishing house.”
Neil smiled and spoke, “Hi Samantha. I am Neil Stone from Stone Publishers. I am going to be honest with you Samantha. I haven’t read a line of the autobiography you are writing. Yet I know one thing, it will be a bestseller because of all the media attention your case had brought.”
I appreciated Neil’s honesty. It would have annoyed me if he hid his true intentions for wanting to publish my book. To me, his opinion about my book didn’t matter. As long as he published it and the world could read my story, I was happy. I hadn’t set out to kill Patrick Bagosora to sell my book, I had done it to avenge my family, my people and to find inner peace. Jesus must have sent this man to help me spread my story, and I would be a fool to reject his help.
I smiled at Neil and spoke: “I would be honoured to work with you and a reputable publisher such as Stone Publishers.”
“That’s great to hear. I am leaving this contract with you, so you can discuss it with Alice.” Neil said and got up.
“Thank you, Neil. I hope to see you soon.” I said and smiled. Neil nodded and left the room.
I turned to Alice and spoke, “Thank you, Alice.”
Alice smiled and replied. “You’re welcome, Samantha. You deserved to catch a break after all the bad things that have happened in your life.”
“But you do know that I did kill Patrick?” I asked.
“Of course, I do. I think most people know. But the consensus was to let you off the hook. But never admit in public that you murdered Patrick. That would force the justice system to retake your trial.” Alice warned.
“I know. Thank you for looking out for me.” I replied.
Alice sat silent for a few seconds. Eventually, she spoke. “I wish you would have come to me earlier. Together we could have convicted Patrick of his crimes and dismantled his diamond smuggling operation. We could have done it the right way.”
“I wish that too. Hatred blinded me, and I’ll have to live with my actions.” I said.
“Well, I guess we are better off looking ahead than dwelling in the past.” Alice reflected.
“I agree, my friend,” I replied.
We chatted for a while longer. My relationship with Alice had transcended the lawyer-client relationship and I considered her as my friend. I agreed to sign the book deal, and we were excited about the launch that would happen once I left the prison.
I had lied about one thing though. I wasn’t regretful that I hadn’t contacted Alice before I murdered Patrick. He deserved to die for what he did, and I would have done it all again if I had the chance to change the past.