Track star ‘was drunk when he fell off balcony’

The woman who was in the bedroom with marathon world champion Samuel Kamau Wanjiru on the night he died on Wednesday said she did not think the star wanted to commit suicide.

Ms Jane Nduta, said the 24-year-old champion “fell badly” as he ran after his wife, Teresia Njeri, who had just locked them in the bedroom in the couple’s Nyahururu home.

Ms Njeri returned home unexpectedly in the middle of the night and found Wanjiru with Ms Nduta in their matrimonial home.

“To me, his intention in jumping off the balcony was not to commit suicide but to go after his wife and get the keys back so that he could open the locked door,” Ms Nduta told the Nation.

She said she was traumatised by the incident and had moved to her rural home for some time to recover and stay away from Nyahururu town and the many questions being asked about her.

This emerged as Wanjiru’s mother, Ms Hannah Wanjiru, announced that her son would not be buried until investigations into his death are completed.

Ms Wanjiru accused a close relative of killing her son and maintained there was blood in the sitting room and the bedroom.

She said “Kamau will not be buried” and wondered why people were asking her about funeral arrangements.

Ms Njeri has asked police for security, saying her mother-in-law “has been threatening me and sending strange men to my house.”

Police are yet to check whether the security cameras that could have recorded the events were working and if there is a record of what transpired that night. (READ: Cameras could solve mystery of Wanjiru’s death plunge)

Ms Nduta’s presence in the bedroom was the cause of yet another spat between Wanjiru and his wife.

The young couple has had a troubled marriage, which at one time landed him in a police cell and in the courts on assault charges.

Ms Nduta, a waitress at Kawa Falls restaurant — which is about a kilometre from the athlete’s home — told the Nation that Wanjiru was drunk when he got to the bar shortly before closing time, 11pm.

She said they were friends and that he had visited her house at Site Estate, not far from his home.

It was, however, the first time she was going to his home, she said, and only agreed to accompany him after Wanjiru assured her that his wife was not at home.

Ms Nduta said she filled in the records of stock at the bar before they left for Jimrock Restaurant, about 500 metres from Kawa Falls, and Wanjiru took more alcohol and got quite drunk.

“After finishing the drinks, he suggested that we go to his place but I asked him first whether his wife was at home, and he told me she wasn’t and I said we can go ahead,” said Ms Nduta.

The woman said when they got home, Wanjiru stopped his car at the gate to talk to the guard first.

He got into the compound and later came to the vehicle and asked the guard to open the gate, then he drove in and parked.

As the guard was locking the door, the two stepped into the sitting room.

The guard, Mr Stephen Maigua, on Tuesday claimed he did not see any passenger in Wanjiru’s car and claimed he was busy closing the gate when his employer entered the house.

An officer at Nyahururu police station, who asked not to be named because there is an ongoing inquiry, said they had doubts about the watchman’s version of events on that night.

Ms Nduta said the athlete’s wife walked in five minutes after they got home and found them watching TV in the living room. She confronted her husband, demanding to know who Ms Nduta was.

“They quarrelled and Triza asked what my relationship with Kamau is. I told her Kamau is my close friend and we have been friends for a long time. I told her I could not have come to his house if this was not the case,” said Ms Nduta.

She said Ms Njeri left in a huff, banged the door and locked it from outside. However, the track-star appeared unmoved and the pair continued watching TV until Ms Njeri came back and the quarrel resumed.

Ms Nduta said the wife stormed out of the house again, only to return and find them in the master bedroom upstairs “sitting on the kingsize bed”.

“Njeri came in and took away the house keys and a padlock that was in the bedroom. She also grabbed a jug, poured the water out and attempted to hit me with it,” said Ms Nduta.

In self-defence, Ms Nduta said, she stood up and got hold of the jug, adding that Wanjiru was too drunk to protect himself.

The couple exchanged harsh words and the wife left again, this time locking the metal gate leading to the bedrooms, said Ms Nduta.

Ms Nduta said she was sitting on the bed when Wanjiru opened the door leading to the balcony and started begging his wife to open the door.

“Ndaikariire uriri o ngithikiriria miario yao. Guthitukira niguo ndaiguire soldier auga mbu nanii ngiumira murango o uria Kamau aumiire. Ngiuria soldier nikii akinjira cuthiriria hau thi wone nu ucio ukomete hau. Ngicuthiriria ngiona ni Kamau nani thakame oimaga.

(I remained seated on the bed listening to them arguing. Suddenly, I heard the watchman scream and went to the balcony to check. I asked the watchman what was wrong and he pointed to the ground and asked me to look who was lying there. Kamau lay there, bleeding),” said Ms Nduta.

The watchman said he found his employer lying on the ground, blood oozing from the back of his head, nose and mouth.

The waitress said she was still in uniform — black trousers, white shirt and black sleeveless jersey — and remained in the bedroom until the police broke the door and took her with them for questioning.

Ms Nduta said the television monitor on the bedside, which is connected to the security cameras, appeared not to be working properly.

“It was on and I looked at it for some time. It did not appear to be working but there were some words on display,” she added.

Meanwhile, police at the local police station remained tight-lipped about the investigations and told the Nation the matter was being handled by “higher authorities”.