Witnesses hitch mars Samuel Wanjiru inquest

Lawyer Murimi Githinji and Wanjiru’s widow Triza. PHOTO | PAUL WAWERU

What you need to know:

  • The inquest was to be conducted in Nyahururu but it was moved to Nairobi following an order by High Court judge Anyara Emukule
  • Three different postmortems conducted after the death came up with three different results

The inquest into the death of former Olympic marathon champion Samuel Wanjiru failed to start after his family protested against the manner in which the proceedings were to begin.

Director of Public Prosecutions Keriako Tobiko had summoned five witnesses from Nyahururu but both Wanjiru’s mother Hannah Wanjiru and his widow Trizah Njeri Kamau claimed that they had not been given the witnesses’ statements to enable their lawyers cross examine the witnesses.

Lawyer Muendo Uvyu, for Ms Wanjiru, said that it would be unfair for the DPP to proceed with the matter without the information.

HEARING DATE

“It will be prejudicial for the mother to have the inquest proceed without looking at the statements. It is only fair if the DPP supplies us with the copies to enable us prepare before we begin,” said Mr Uvyu.

Nairobi chief magistrate Hannah Ndung’u allowed the request by the family and directed the DPP to supply them with the statement before the hearings on May 14.

The inquest was to be conducted in Nyahururu but it was moved to Nairobi following an order by High Court judge Anyara Emukule, sitting in Nakuru.

The DPP has lined up 35 witnesses, including the late athlete’s mother and widow in an attempt to unravel the mystery behind his death in 2011.

Three different postmortems conducted after the death came up with three different results and the government subsequently ordered an inquest to unearth the truth.

An initial police investigations report stated that he died of injuries sustained in the fall from the balcony of his house. (READ: The tragedy of Kenyan stars)

However, a first autopsy conducted by former chief government pathologist, Dr Moses Njue, cast doubt on the theory that the former Olympic champion died of head injuries sustained during a fall from his balcony.

He called for thorough investigations to establish what caused the injuries on the back of the athlete’s head.

Dr Njue said his opinion was derived from extensive experience on injuries and the fact that no one witnessed the fall.

The second postmortem examination report by Dr Emily Rogena, who was contracted by Wanjiru’s mother, also disputed the assertion of an accidental fall as the cause of death and added that there was the possibility that Wanjiru could have been murdered.

A third postmortem examination report by consultant pathologist Peter Ndegwa, who represented Wanjiru’s widow, Triza Njeri, concluded that he died of an injury on his head suffered when he accidentally fell from the balcony of his house.

BLOOD STAINS

According to Dr Ndegwa, the cause of death was as a result of head injury due to blunt force trauma consistent with a fall.

Dr Ndegwa argued that there would have been no other cause of death since there were no blood stains in the bedroom.