Bones found in GSU officer’s Embu home in murder probe

Forensic pathologists on May 9, 2018 found human bones as they dug up a shallow grave where a GSU officer is suspected to have buried his girlfriend and son after allegedly killing them in Njarane village, Embu County last year. PHOTO | CHARLES WANYORO | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Forensic pathologists are yet to confirm whether the bones are of Ms Pauline Kagendo and her son.
  • The two disappeared after allegedly being lured by the police officer on June 10, 2017.

  • Ms Kagendo’s father, Mr Stanley Mugendi, who was present said the recovery of the bones gave them hope of establishing the truth.

  • Mbeere North police boss Jane Sang said they are only waiting for a report to see if to charge the policeman with murder.

Forensic pathologists on Wednesday found human bones as they dug up a shallow grave where a GSU officer is suspected to have buried his estranged girlfriend and their son in an Embu village.

Dr Amritpal Kalsi said the bones were exhumed about three metres from a toilet in the compound of the police officer who is already in detention.

She, however, could not confirm whether the remains were those of Ms Pauline Kagendo, 19, and her son Johnson Muriithi.

The two disappeared after they were allegedly lured by the police officer on June 10, last year to his home in Njarane village.

Her family had claimed they had information that the officer, Mr Edwin Mwenda, killed the two and dumped their bodies inside a pit latrine in his home.

On Wednesday, Dr Kalsi conducted the exhumation with assistance from police officers.

“We have found some human remains and there is an investigation going on,” she said.

Ms Kagendo’s father, Mr Stanley Mugendi, who was present said the recovery of the bones gave them hope of establishing the truth.

Mbeere North police boss Jane Sang said the recovery of the bones had breathed life to their case and they are only waiting for a report to see if to charge the policeman with murder.

She confirmed that they are holding Mr Mwenda, a female relative, together with a farmhand over the murder.

The police officer and the missing woman had a baby boy in December 2016 when Ms Kagendo was a Form One student at Kanyueri Secondary School but the relationship did not last.

Her mother, Ms Onorata Kanini, said the police officer had openly expressed irritation over Ms Kagendo calls every time their son was unwell.

However, the officer reluctantly took over the upbringing of the child and would send money when his son was sick.

On the day they disappeared, Ms Kagendo left with her son for the officer’s home after the boy fell sick, ostensibly to accompany the father to the hospital but they were never seen again.