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[T] State v. Kupaza4/24/2003
pack it with Mwivano's things, and bring it to the "Memorial Union" the next day, where Mwivano planned to take a bus to Iowa. Kupaza said that he last saw Mwivano on April 25, 1999, when he met her at the "Memorial Union." Kupaza said he gave Mwivano the black duffel bag and $1,500 for her plane ticket and left without seeing Mwivano get on the bus. Thus, Kupaza did not contest that parts of Mwivano's body were found in his duffel bag. Rather, Kupaza offered an innocent explanation for why Mwivano was found in his duffel bag.
. Viewed in isolation, Kupaza's explanation that he lied to the police because of his fear Immigration and Naturalization Services was looking for Mwivano is plausible. However, we view that explanation in the context of the entire trial and conclude that the overwhelming evidence points to Kupaza's guilt.
State Crime Lab Blood Evidence
. The bloodstain found behind the baseboard near the bathtub in Kupaza's bathroom is compelling evidence of guilt. The location of the bloodstain demonstrates that at one time there was a sufficient amount of Mwivano's blood on the wall of Kupaza's bathroom that it would run down between the wall and the baseboard. This evidence is both consistent with the grisly manner in which Mwivano's body was disarticulated and inconsistent with the explanation offered by Kupaza's attorney during closing arguments: that the bloodstain was the result of innocuous circumstances, such as Mwivano cutting her leg while shaving or from menstrual blood.
Shadrack Msengi Testimony
. Kupaza maintained to investigators and during the trial that Mwivano planned to take a bus to Iowa, meet up with a man named Shadrack, and then travel to Tanzania. However, there was no independent support for this assertion and, at the same time, there was good reason to disbelieve the claim. Shadrack Msengi, a man from Tanzania who lives in Iowa, testified that he knew both Mwivano and Kupaza from the time they spent in school together in Tanzania. He testified that he had no contact with Mwivano while she was in the United States. Msengi also testified that he could not think of a reason why someone would travel to Iowa before flying to Tanzania.
Faith Mmanywa's Testimony
. Faith Mmanywa, a friend of Kupaza's, provided inculpatory testimony. Mmanywa moved to the United States from Tanzania in 1998. Mmanywa testified that in September 1999 (after Mwivano's body was discovered, but before it was identified), Kupaza telephoned Mmanywa and told her Mwivano had returned to Tanzania and was not going to return to the United States. According to Mmanywa, Kupaza's purpose in calling was to tell her that Mwivano returned to Tanzania and left him with a "big task," which was to marry some day, and a "big assignment," which was to convince Mmanywa to come to Wisconsin. Mmanywa testified that Kupaza told her that Mwivano had entered nursing school in Tanzania, and that he learned this information from "home."
. This was highly damaging testimony because it further undercut Kupaza's explanation that he subsequently told police a similar lie to protect Mwivano from deportation. Kupaza gave no reason why he would lie to Mmanywa about Mwivano, and Kupaza suggested no reason why Mmanywa would lie about their telephone conversations. In fact, Kupaza was equivocal regarding what he told Mmanywa. Kupaza testified that he told Mmanywa that Mwivano was accepted to nursing school before she came to the United States, and that she "might" have gone back to Tanzania to attend nursing school. He never denied telling Mmanywa that he learned this from "home."
. Accordingly, it was essentially uncontested
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