News
Police use M-Pesa to trace student’s killer
File | NATION The World Bank has praised M-Pesa saying it is an ideal story of why it pays to invest in the poor. The service provides a low-cost money transfer and savings service.
Posted Monday, August 16 2010 at 21:00
In Summary
- Transaction reveals identity of suspect which officers used to trail and seize man who raped and killed 20-year-old
An M-Pesa transaction has helped detectives solve the puzzle of a college student murdered three months ago.
Twenty-year-old Jane Wairimu went missing on May 20, and her remains were found in a thicket at a farm in Kiserian, on the outskirts of Nairobi, last Saturday.
Relatives and police had started by trying to contact Ms Wairimu through her cellphone, but her line was out of reach. Detectives then located her cellphone, having tracked its serial number, which was still in use, but with a different SIM card.
A man who had been using it, later identified as the killer, sensed that police were on his tracks and discarded the phone and his SIM card. This threw police off-track until the detectives opted for M-Pesa.
They sent Sh150 to the suspect’s number and even though the SIM card had been discarded, a report message displayed the names of the person who had registered it.
Using the information, the detectives got more details from the service provider and tracked down the suspect to his rural home in Manyatta, Embu District.
He was arrested on Thursday last week and two days later he led the police to the crime scene at Nkarusa farm where the deceased’s skeleton, clothes and handbag were found.
Ms Wairimu’s mother, Ms Susan Nyambura, said her daughter was going to apply for an ID at Ngong.
“There was a traffic crackdown that day. She called me to say she was stranded,” she told the Nation.
Employed to look after cattle
The mother advised her to return home and she replied that she would walk back. She took a shortcut — a lonely and dusty road traversing Nkarusa farm, where the suspect was employed to look after cattle.
The suspect told police he spotted the girl in the farm and confessed to have raped, strangled, and then hit her head with a rock, to make sure she was dead.
He approached his employer the following day and lied to him that his father had died. His employer released him, but he never came back until police arrested him.
-
Submitted by jokasedaPosted August 17, 2010 09:04 PM
-
Submitted by jjrpkari
There have always been comments like "no stone will be left unturned till we get the killers".... looks like police have added capacity to unturn all the stones... so stories of unresolved murders should reduce with such brains and technology.
Posted August 17, 2010 01:42 PM -
Submitted by pinglipangla
impressive performance by police officers.This criminal left roaming around could kill ten more people.. he was just planning when he would resume his evil deeds
Posted August 17, 2010 09:31 AM -
Submitted by marston
Wish all policemen could work like this.Top brains, these are. Able to think quickly outside the box. Also, kudos to whoever came up with the MPesa innovation.
Posted August 17, 2010 08:59 AM -
Submitted by SJ502
A young girl goes missing and the day after somebody within the neighbourhood suddenly is in a hurry to quit his job to bury a father...while congratulating the cops for cracking this case this would have been resolved sooner than later!
Posted August 17, 2010 04:17 AM
RSS
I am imprest with this level of work. Well done police!The man who was incharge of this criminal case should be promoted and encouraged.We watch on video similar cases here in the USA daily and wish our men could do the same in Kenya. This is a good example to all pending cases.Well done Kenya!