Washington Nurse's Aide Accused of Murdering Resident's Wife
Joseph Njonge is on trial, accused of murdering a resident's wife in the parking lot of the facility where he worked. Njonge, a nurse's aide at the Garden Terrace nursing home in Federal Way, Washington, was charged with first degree murder in the death of Jane Britt, the wife of one of the residents Njonge regularly cared for. Jane Britt allegedly was strangled in the parking lot of Golden Terrace and her body was placed in the trunk of her Mercedes-Benz. Her body was found on March 19, 2008; she was last seen at 7:00 p.m. on March 18, 2008, after visiting her husband.
Jane Britt visited her husband, Frank Britt, nearly every day and Njonge considered her his friend. Njonge last saw Jane Britt on March 18, 2008 at 5:20 p.m., while working the 2:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. shift. Prosecutors believe that Jane Britt scratched her assailant during a fierce struggle before she was strangled. A large sample of DNA was found under her fingernails. While Njonge said he did not know how his DNA got under Britt's fingernails, trial testimony revealed that the odds of the DNA under Britt's fingernails belonging to someone other than Njonge were 1 in 19 quadrillion. Njonge testified that Britt had scratched his head in a "lighthearted way" with both of her hands the day she was last seen.
During Njonge's testimony in his murder trial, he admitted to taking Frank Britt's Costco card. Allegedly, Njonge took the card in July or August 2007 to check out prices for a flat screen television and forgot to return it. He also admitted to taking a Thomas Kinkade painting from another resident's room and pawning a diamond ring he allegedly found in a shower room at the nursing home facility. Njonge said he took several framed paintings from the facility to duplicate styles of framing. "I usually took them back," he said.
If convicted, Njonge faces from 20 to more than 26 years in prison.
Frank Britt died in May 2009. Frank and Jane Britt had been married for 56 years.
