Motorist in girl’s death mystery gives himself up

A man on Monday presented himself to police as the owner of a vehicle mentioned in connection with the mysterious death of a university student.

Mr Wycliffe Okelo, however, denied any wrongdoing, saying he saw the body on the road and swerved to avoid it.

He also denied being at the party attended by Ms Mercy Keino and Juja MP William Kabogo.

Ms Keino was reported to have had an argument with a man, stormed out of the party and was dragged back by well-built men.

She ran out a second time with the men in pursuit and was found dead hours later on Waiyaki Way, having been run over by motorists.

A witness called police to report that he had seen a body being tossed out of a dark Mercedes Benz.

Mr Okelo, popularly known as General Defao, apparently because of his prowess at dancing to Lingala music, is a second-hand car dealer.

He becomes the 10th witness to be interviewed by police over Ms Keino’s death. Mr Kabogo and his bodyguards have given statements. (READ: Kabogo questioned on university girl’s death)

Detectives have been looking for the car described by the witness, who gave them the vehicle’s registration, but it is not clear if Mr Okelo’s car is the one they were looking for.

Whereas Mr Okelo’s car fits the description — it is a dark-coloured 1998 Mercedes Benz— there could be questions as to whether the registration number, KBM 400H, is the one given by the witness.

The registration number obtained by the Daily Nation from its police sources on Saturday checked out to be a Toyota GX100.

The number obtained by Ms Keino’s family from the police is a Nissan pickup registered to a company.

On Monday, Mr Okelo drove his green Mercedes Benz to Parklands, parked his car outside the police station and walked to the report desk and identified himself.

Detectives on the case had started talking to him when another team arrived and took him away. They told their colleagues the case had been taken over by the provincial CID office.

Police found the body at 4.15am, on June 17. Ms Keino had been invited to the party, held at Wasini Luxury Homes on Church Road — off Waiyaki Way, Nairobi, by a cousin.

The woman’s sister, who declined to be named, said it’s not the first time the two had gone out together. However, she said its was their first time at Wasini and the first time they met the MP.

Mr Kabogo also told the police in his statement that he had not met Ms Keino before. “My sister is very traumatised by what happened. She is very innocent,” she told the Nation.

An initial postmortem report showed her legs were broken, and the upper body disfigured, probably after she was run over by vehicles.

A more detailed report is expected once tests have been carried out on samples taken from the body.

On Sunday, Mr Kabogo said: “I have recorded a statement with the police and you can get all the details there. I do not know where you got the report about a dark Mercedes Benz allegedly seen dropping a body.”

The MP said he had nothing to do with the student’s death and challenged those with information about the incident to report to police.

“Sometimes I don’t understand you people (media)… you seem to have more information than we have, give it to the police,” he told the Nation by phone.