Unrequited love drove Wangechi’s killer over the edge

The Sh14,000 he sent her for a birthday party could have been the last straw that led Mr Naftali Njahi Kinuthia to kill the woman of his dreams.

Speaking to detectives on Wednesday, Mr Kinuthia said he was angered by Ms Ivy Wangechi’s adamant refusal to be his girlfriend, although he had sent her money on several occasions.

Speaking at the High Dependency Unit at the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTRH) where he was admitted after he was attacked by the public after killing her, he said he sent Ms Wangechi Sh14,000 last week for her birthday party, which should have been held on Wednesday.

“He said he was angry that she continued to ignore his calls, saying it was not the first time he was sending her money, and that he was not happy to be denied a chance to celebrate her birthday,” said Eldoret East Directorate of Criminal Investigations Officer Ali Kingi.

SCHOOLMATES

Mr Kingi said Mr Kinuthia pestered Ms Wangechi for a meeting but she was reluctant and at some point switched off her phone.

“He said he felt disrespected after all the love he had shown her and decided to go and buy an axe in town and sharpen it as he prepared to attack her,” added Mr Kingi.

He then monitored her movements before striking at around 10.30am on Tuesday.

Eldoret East OCPD Lucy Kananu said: “He attacked her from the back and then descended on her, killing her. The axe was so sharp and heavy she did not have any chance of survival,” said Ms Kananu.

The detectives also confiscated some drugs found in his car for testing to ascertain what they were and whether he had taken them before attacking Ms Wangechi.

The two, who were childhood friends, grew up in the same area and went to the same primary school.

TOP STUDENT

Their parents, who know each other well, arrived in Eldoret on Wednesday to follow-up on the matter but refused to comment.

But detectives said the parents said they were aware of the friendship between Ms Wangechi and Mr Kinuthia.

Ms Wangechi, who joined university in 2012, was due to graduate this year with a bachelor’s degree in medicine.

The former Alliance Girls High School student scored straight As in the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education, earning herself easy admission to study medicine, which was her first choice.

The Dean of the School of Medicine, Prof Lukoye Atwoli, on Wednesday described Ms Wangechi as a good, hardworking student who was progressing well in her final year.

“She was an A student. She was hardworking. We normally rate our students as either pass or fail and Wangechi was doing well,” he said.

FOCUSED

He also urged people to stop spreading rumours about her and appealed to them to be considerate to her family and her friends.

“I would like to tell people who are writing and sharing those lies about her to stop. We are urging people to be sensitive to her family, her friends and those close to her,” Prof Atwoli told the Nation.

Her classmates who spoke to the Nation on Wednesday painted a picture of a student who was serious about her studies and was keen to graduate and become a doctor.

Away from class, the ever-jovial woman liked socialising with colleagues and was open with them.

One of her close friends said she was not the kind of person to keep a problem to herself.

“She was our classmate. She was beautiful and brilliant. She did quite well in school,” said Ms Vulavu Serena, the class representative.

THREATS

Her friends said they were shocked by the stories being spread about her on social media.

“The Wangechi we know as our classmate is sociable, considerate and always ready to listen and help. I feel sad when I see people talk so badly about her,” said Mr Rodgers Abidha, another classmate.

Another friend who requested anonymity said he enjoyed supper with Ms Wangechi a fortnight ago in a hotel in Eldoret town, and she confided in him that a man who had been stalking her had threatened to kill himself if she continued to reject his advances.

“She did not appear scared, but I told her not to dismiss such threats. I told her people who threaten to commit suicide might do something sinister before doing so,” he told the Nation.

The student said that after she told him about Mr Kinuthia's threat, she became reclusive and started avoiding her colleagues.

“We always chatted freely and she was so lively but for the past two weeks, after she told me about the suicide threat, she became quiet and withdrawn. I would text her and she would only reply hours later, unlike before,” he said. His attempts to find out what was bothering her were fruitless.

OBSESSED

Before she became withdrawn, she had shared with the friend how the man had become so obsessed with her that he had travelled to Eldoret on a number of occasions to meet her.

He said Ms Wangechi told them she had refused to see Mr Kinuthia but he would wait at the gate for hours and leave without seeing her.

Mr Kinuthia is also said to have sent her money on several occasions, even after she asked him not to.

The friend said that early this year, Ms Wangechi told him that Mr Kinuthia had sent her an expensive perfume and a mobile phone with a note expressing his love for her.

“It was an expensive perfume, that is what I remember Wangechi telling me. The phone must have cost about Sh10,000,” he said.

MTRH Chief Executive Officer Wilson Aruasa said Mr Kinuthia was operated on the head to save his life after he was stoned by the public.