According to a statement by Kenyan’s Directorate of Criminal Investigations, a 20-year-old man has been arrested for the gruesome murder of an 83-year-old granny, whose lifeless body was discovered at her house hours after her murder in Kagundu-ini, Murang’a county on October 24, 2022.
In the incident that shocked residents of the quiet banana producing Nguruwei-ni village, Pauline Wanjiku’s motionless body was found sprawled on her sofa by concerned villagers who broke into her house after she failed to respond to their endless calls.
Earlier at about 6pm, a neighbour identified as Alice Wanjiku, who had not seen maitu (granny) as she was commonly referred to in the village, had walked into the granny’s uncharacteristically quiet and neat compound that sits on a hill.
Save for the monotonous sounds of chirping crickets as dusk settled into the sleepy village, the silence was deafening prompting Alice to call out her name maitu, maitu, but no response was forthcoming.
However, she noticed that the kitchen door had been left ajar while the door leading to the living room was locked from outside. Alice checked maitu’s backyard and when she couldn’t find her, she gathered a few neighbours and they broke into the main house.
They were shocked to find the lifeless body of the 83-year-old granny lying on her sofa with her hands tied together on her back, a headscarf hanging loosely on her frail neck and blood oozing from her mouth.
Immediately, the neighbours alerted police officers based at Kabati police station who rushed to the scene. The officers established that the house had been ransacked and a 32-inch television, electric jiko and mobile phone all belonging to the deceased were missing.
All that was left behind was a kiondo (basket) containing the deceased’s foodstuff, which she had bought the previous evening at the local shopping centre 300 metres away, for her evening meal.
Details about the murder most-foul were escalated to detectives based at the Crime Research & Intelligence Bureau, who immediately swung into action and visited the scene.
After preliminary investigations, it was established that the deceased lived alone and would occasionally be visited by her grandson Eric Wanyoike, who lives in the city and who had also bought her the television set, electric cooker and mobile phone.
Tears flowed down the face of the deceased’s grandson Eric Wanyoike, who could not come to terms with the brutal killing of his loving grandmother as he recounted how he had visited her and left her hours before she was murdered in cold blood.
After interviewing a few villagers and documenting the scene, the detectives came back to headquarters and employed cutting-edge forensic technology in their investigations, leading to the arrest of the prime suspect in Waithaka, Dagoretti, Nairobi county.
The sleuths recovered the electric cooker stolen from the deceased in the suspect’s hideout while the television set was recovered from a second suspect identified as Wilkister Awuor, who admitted to have bought it from the suspect at Sh5,000.
Similarly, the deceased’s phone was also recovered from a third suspect identified as Mercy Kadenge, who bought it from the suspect at Sh600.
So far, four suspects have been rounded up in connection with the senseless murder and are cooling their heels at Kandara police station as detectives finalize their investigations.
The arrest of the suspects comes soon after the Director of Criminal Investigations Mr Mohammed Amin, committed to deal with all manners of crime without favour and in strict conformity with the provisions of the law.
Mr Amin has warned criminals and criminal gangs that are attempting to regroup in the city, that detectives are on high alert and any mischief will be met with the full force of the law.
The DCI chief said this as he effected more changes in the Directorate, aimed at improving DCI’s efficiency and effectiveness in dealing with modern day crimes.
Credit: Kenya’s Directorate of Criminal Investigations.
