An American of Ugandan origin was sentenced to death on Thursday for the murder of four young children whom he stabbed to death in a kindergarten in the Ugandan capital.
Christopher Okello Onyum was arrested on April 2 as he tried to escape from the Kampala nursery, where he had killed these young children, aged 15 months to two and a half years.
According to prosecutors, Onyum, who holds dual Ugandan and American citizenship, confessed to his crime, convinced that this "human sacrifice" would help him become rich, although he ultimately pleaded not guilty in court.
The judge rejected the insanity argument, finding that the "meticulous and precise manner" in which the murders had been committed clearly showed that they had been premeditated.
"I sentence him to death," she declared in court, to cheers from the public.
"He targeted them while they were defenseless and began massacring them like animals... without any fear, any shame, any respect for human life," she added.
"I also took into account the fact that the convicted man showed no remorse, as I at least expected him to apologize to the babies' families."
The court heard that Onyum had conducted online searches on beheadings committed by the Islamic State and on local schools that accommodate young children.
It is unknown, however, whether this attack had a political or religious motivation.
The court heard chilling testimony earlier, including that of a staff member from the Ggaba Early Childhood Development Centre.
"At first, I thought he was hitting a child."
"When I asked him why he was hitting our children, before he could even answer, I saw Kaisha (one of the victims) leaning against a wall, lying in a pool of blood," she told the court at the start of the trial.
"He stood up, knife in hand. He was so quick that he immediately grabbed another child."
"I grabbed one of the bikes the children were using. I threw it to him."
"When I threw the bike at him, he dropped the child and started chasing me. I ran away, but fell shortly afterwards. When I got up, I saw that he had injured the second child."
The parents of the victims also testified, describing their last morning with their children before taking them to kindergarten, the phone call informing them of the attack and the discovery of the bodies at the hospital.
