Witness links ex-pathologist Njue to missing body organ
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Mr Mwongela added that the second report indicated that two body parts were missing: the heart and kidney.
The case will resume on February 19.
The organ theft case against former government pathologist Moses Njue took a dramatic turn after a key witness said Dr Njue confessed to stealing a heart.
Advocate Charles Mwongela, whose father Benedict Karau was buried without a heart, told a court in Meru that it was after the second autopsy that Dr Njue allegedly confessed to stealing the body part.
"Chief Government Pathologist Johansen Oduor told us that Dr Njue had confessed that he took the heart. When I asked him where the heart was, he said he cannot remember where he kept it; whether in a private medical hospital in Nyeri or Consolata hospital where he conducted the first post-mortem. He said he would make it available in two weeks, but he did not do so,” Mr Mwongela told Chief Magistrate Hannah Ndung’u.
SECOND POST-MORTEM
The post-mortem was done because they were not satisfied with the initial one conducted to establish the cause of death.
“The first autopsy was conducted by Dr Njue and Meru Level Five pathologist Scholastica Kimani on March 12, 2015 at Consolata Hospital in Meru,” he said.
The body was exhumed five months later for the second examination carried out at Meru Funeral Home by a team consisting of Dr Oduor, Dr Sylvester Maingi, Prof Kiama, Dr Scholastica Kimani and Dr Njue.
“After the exercise, Dr Oduor told us that apart from injuries on the head, he had other injuries that were not indicated in the first post-mortem report, like elbows with defensive wounds. The first autopsy had only indicated that he died from a heart attack,” he said.
Mr Mwongela added that the second report indicated that two body parts were missing: the heart and kidney.
But during cross-examination, he said, he could not confirm the claim. Dr Njue also denied committing the offence. Mr Mwongela said he had been receiving reports that his father had been killed.
“I was told he choked with food when he was taking dinner. That reason did not satisfy me because when my brothers went to view the body at Meru Level Five mortuary, they said it had bruises.”
The case will resume on February 19.
