Walter Buchanan, 66, Sentenced to Life for Murdering Kenyan Wife in South Lanarkshire

Walter Buchanan, 66, was sentenced to life imprisonment on April 2, 2025, for the murder of his wife, Darrel Odhiambo, 37, at their home near Hamilton Racecourse in South Lanarkshire. 

Judge Lord Cubie delivered the sentence at Edinburgh's High Court, mandating a minimum of 15 years before Buchanan is eligible for parole. The case stems from an incident in February 2023, when an argument between Buchanan and Odhiambo, a Kenyan native, escalated into fatal violence. Prosecutors presented evidence that Buchanan assaulted Odhiambo, causing her death by compressing her neck and obstructing her breathing. 

"As you have already been told, the sentence for murder is fixed by law. I must now impose that sentence upon you. I sentence you to imprisonment for life,'' the judgment by Judge Cubie reads in part.

A post-mortem examination revealed manual strangulation, smothering, brain trauma, bruising, and a fractured rib. Buchanan initially pleaded not guilty, offering contradictory accounts of Odhiambo's death. He first claimed she choked in her sleep and later suggested she fell while intoxicated. Medical evidence contradicted these claims, leading the jury to convict him of murder in January 2024.

''I bear in mind your age and your previously useful role in society. I consider that the appropriate punishment part in your case should be 15 years,'' the judgment concluded.

During the sentencing, Judge Lord Cubie emphasized that no level of suspicion or behaviour on Odhiambo’s part justified the violence she endured. He highlighted the profound impact of Odhiambo's death on her family, particularly her mother, sisters, and young son, Jimmy. 

Victim impact statements underscored the family's grief and frustration over the circumstances of her death. While acknowledging Buchanan’s age and past contributions to society, Judge Cubie emphasized the severity of the crime as either a deliberate act or one of reckless disregard.

"You deprived your wife’s mother and sisters and extended family of her society. I have read from the victim impact statements the feelings of loss which they endure; and you have left her son Jimmy motherless," the judgment continued.