Joseph Irungu quizzed over wound, to be held for 10 days

Detectives investigating the death of 28-year-old businesswoman Monica Nyawira Kimani believe that the prime suspect might have faked a gunshot wound on his left shoulder, allegedly to conceal the truth about the murder.

Mr Joseph Irungu, alias Joe Jowi, who was arrested on Tuesday morning after preliminary investigations linked him to the murder, claimed that he was attacked by gunmen on Friday morning after he dropped off his fiancée, TV anchor Jackie Maribe, at her house in Royal Park Estate, in Lang'ata, Nairobi.

The family of the brutally murdered woman also confirmed that the man who has been arrested by police in connection with the incident was in constant communication with their daughter.

THREE MEN

He told police that as he was leaving the estate, he encountered three men who shot him and sped off on a motorbike.

But police are questioning his narrative, saying they suspect the wound may have been occasioned by a struggle with deceased. The incident occurred on September 19, at Limuru Gardens Apartment, House No. A8, located in the Killimani area, Nairobi.

Lead investigator Maxwell Otieno Wednesday said that at the end of the investigation, it may turn out that the wound was not inflicted by a bullet but by "other weapons”.

“Part of what we want to establish is about (Irungu’s) wound so that it may be known whether it’s a gunshot wound or it’s a wound that may have been inflicted by any other weapon (sic). I am saying that because preliminarily, it is suspected that the same (wound) may turn out not to be a gunshot wound at the end of the investigations,” Mr Otieno told Kiambu Senior Principal Magistrate Stella Atambo.

REMANDED

The magistrate Wednesday evening ordered Mr Irungu remanded to Muthaiga Police Station for 10 days to facilitate further investigations. The court also ruled that he be taken to hospital.

The suspect, who was arrested at Royal Estate in Lang’ata, told the police that after the shooting, he returned to Ms Maribe’s house, and was taken to Nairobi West Hospital.

In his statement, Mr Irungu said he went to Lang'ata Hospital for treatment the same evening, and that he was admitted until Monday morning.

But yesterday, through his lawyers, Mr Sam Nyaberi, Mr Lawrence Mbaabu and Mr Mugambi Laichena, Mr Irungu said that he had sought treatment at Kijabe Hospital, which is 65 kilometres from Nairobi.

WOUND

The wound was discussed extensively during the court session, since the defence had used it as the main argument to have the hearing of the police application deferred until Mr Irungu was treated, a position that Magistrate Atambo rejected.

Mr Nyaberi told the court that since his arrest, the suspect was yet to get any form of treatment or medication despite being in great pain.

According to Mr Nyaberi, doctors have already cautioned that if he does not get specialised treatment urgently, he risks having his arm amputated.

Ms Nyawira was murdered and her body placed inside a bathtub with her hands tied together, her mouth sealed with adhesive tape and her throat slit. Detectives said their leads so far have only linked Mr Irungu to the murder.

CRIME SCENE

Mr Otieno said preliminary investigations had established that the suspect was in the vicinity of the scene of crime, a line which they are pursuing as well as analysing data from a mobile service provider to establish his movements during the time of the incident.

The deceased's car and mobile phone have been confiscated with a view to conducting further forensic analysis in connection with the murder. A preliminary investigation indicated that both the car and the deceased's phone were at the scene of the incident.

Several witnesses have positively identified Mr Irungu as having been at the woman's house on the night of the murder through an identification parade conducted at Kilimani Police Station on September 25. The investigation is expected to be extended to South Sudan were Ms Nyawira is said to have returned from on the fateful day.

WITNESSES

Senior Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions Jacinta Nyamosi said that detectives would interview and record statements of witnesses believed to have crucial information regarding the Ms Nyawira's activities in South Sudan.

Police were apprehensive that, should the suspect be released “there is a high likelihood that he will interfere with the investigations’’, having been identified to have been in the victim’s house on the fateful night.

The investigating team also intends to interview and record statements from several witnesses, some of whom are friends and immediate neighbours of the suspect.

Preliminary investigations have also established that Mr Irungu frequently visits the Middle East, where he has worked for private security company, and police believe that he might be a flight risk should he be released before investigations are completed.

Speaking at their home in Landless Estate, Thika, Ms Nyawira’s family said that the two began communicating on social media before they finally met recently at Westlands, Nairobi.

AFFAIR

Ms Nyawira’s brother, Mr George Thiru Kimani, revealed that his sister had informed him that the man was interested in having an affair with her, but she was reluctant as she did not know him well and also because she was in another relationship.

“The two were mutual friends and mostly communicated on Facebook and through Instagram. There was nothing intimate; Irungu admired my sister but she did not take him seriously as she had a boyfriend,” said Mr Kimani.

He also revealed that he and Mr Irungu were students at Kenya Polytechnic University, where they shared a class but since they graduated they only met once again recently.

"From social media, I could tell he went to work in Dubai as I worked in South Sudan," added Mr Kimani.

He said he learnt of Mr Irungu’s possible link to the murder when someone called to inform him that he had been arrested.

Mr Kimani said he went to sister's house and found body lying in the bath tub. Her undergarments had also been partly torn an indication that she might have been raped before she was murdered.

The deceased’s father, Bishop Paul Ngarama, of the Rebuilding Apostolic Mission Church, described his daughter as a “morally upright and hard-working child who bore no grudge with anyone”.

He said he was hopeful that justice would be done.