Witness lied to court, says detective

A witness who testified against two men charged with the murder of a former MP’s son was not in the vicinity of the shooting scene, a court heard on Monday.

Mr Charles Njuguna Mbugua, a private investigator hired by the family of Alexander Chepkonga to establish claims that the witness was at the scene, said his findings revealed the testimony was accurate.

Mr Chepkonga and former police officer Dickson Mwangi Munene have been put on their defence for the murder of Mr James Ng’ang’a Muiruri, a son of former Gatundu North MP Patrick Muiruri on January 24, 2009 in Westlands, Nairobi.

(READ: Officer shot my son five times, says former MP)

In his testimony, Mr Eliud Kimani Mwangi had told the court he used to sell flowers near the scene of shooting and even helped two people rush Mr Muiruri to hospital after being shot.

However, Mr Mbugua said he went through the statements of the two people who took Mr Muiruri to hospital and they did not mention being assisted by another person.

The investigator said he traced Mr Mwangi to his rural home in Murang’a and established that he used to work in Thika and was in Nairobi for only seven days prior to the shooting.

“I then took his picture to Westlands and inquired from the people working around Sarit Centre roundabout where the shooting took place but all I spoke to did not recognise him,” said Mr Mbugua.

Asked by State Counsel Eric Monda why he did not inform police that he was following the witness, he replied that he was acting on instructions as a private investigator.

Mr Chepkonga and Mr Munene were put on their defence after Justice Mohamed Warsame ruled that they have a case to answer against the murder of Mr Muiruri.

Lawyers Kioko Kilukumi and Philip Murgor for the accused argued that even though the cause of death was given as multiple organ injuries due to gunshot wounds, no evidence was given to prove the type of the gun used.

Mr Murgor said there was fabrication and alteration of witness statements, adding that Mr Muiruri’s father had interfered with the investigations by induced some witnesses to implicate the accused.

“The purported hawker (Mr Mwangi) did not know the dates he recorded a statement, any building in Westlands or the roundabout where the incident took place,” said Mr Murgor.

He claimed that another witness had confided that a paragraph had been inserted in his statement without his knowledge, and that three other witnesses were forced to change their statements in questionable circumstances.

The hearing continues on Tuesday.