When a junior secondary school teacher went missing for three days under mysterious circumstances, her family searched for her in vain.
Betty Wanjiru, 28, disappeared on March 9, 2026. Three days later, she was found brutally murdered and her body dumped in a farm at Mugumoini village in Kirinyaga county.
Wanjiru was allegedly raped, tortured and murdered, in an incident detectives say points at a terrifying pattern in the nature of cold blood killings.
The prime suspect in the gruesome murder is her boyfriend, a casual labourer whose mud-walled house was set on fire by angry residents at the neighbouring Ngucwi village in Murinduko location.
On the day Wanjiru went missing, she left for work at Ithiga Ria Njuki Junior Secondary School. That was the last time she was seen alive.
On Thursday, around 11am, residents stumbled upon her half-naked body a few metres from Nyamindi river and reported the matter to Wang'uru police station.
It is believed that Wanjiru was held hostage inside the house of the prime suspect for three days where she was tortured to death.
After the fatal attack, the suspect allegedly dragged the body and dumped it in the nearby Mugumoini village to cover up evidence.
Wanjiru’s handbag was found next to the body with some of her personal belongings including her phone missing.
Following the incident, irate residents stormed the home of the suspect baying for his blood and when they failed to find him, they set his three-roomed house on fire.
Betty Wanjiru, the junior secondary school teacher who was found dead at Mugumoini village in Kirinyaga county on March 12, 2026, three days after she was reported missing.
Photo credit: Pool
"We wanted to teach him a lesson for murdering a caring woman who teaches our children but he escaped. If police don’t catch up with him before we do he should know his hours on earth are numbered," one of the residents said.
According to the family, the prime suspect allegedly called them pretending that Wanjiru was still alive but sick and in a serious condition.
Wanjiru's father, Mr Jeremiah Nyaga, recounted how his daughter's boyfriend called him to notify him that the junior secondary school teacher was unwell.
"The suspect who has been my daughter's boyfriend since last year called me at 1am before the body was found later in the morning, and informed me that my daughter was having breathing problems and that I should go and pick her. I sensed danger and reported the matter to Kimbimbi police Post. The officers there seemed not bothered and I didn't get any assistance," said Mr Jeremiah Nyaga, her father.
Nyaga said he later went to report the matter to police in Ngucwi area and on his way back, he heard people saying an unknown body of a female had been seen dumped in a farm.
Nyaga rushed to the scene and on arrival he was shocked to discover that the body was that of his daughter.
"The prime suspect knew my daughter was already dead and lied to me that she was still alive. This is cruelty of the highest degree and I'm still in shock. I can’t imagine what my daughter who has been employed for only three years did to this man to deserve this inhuman treatment," said Mr Nyaga.
The distraught father, also a secondary school teacher, demanded that the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) gets to the bottom of the matter and bring the culprit to book.
He described his daughter as a bright, humble and hard working person whose future would have been brighter had she lived.
Betty Wanjiru, the junior secondary school teacher who was found dead at Mugumoini village in Kirinyaga county on March 12, 2026, three days after she was reported missing.
Photo credit: Pool
The body of the single mother of a two -year-old girl is lying at Kibugi Funeral home in Kutus town awaiting postmortem examination.
Sarah Njeri, an aunt to the deceased, said she was still reeling in shock following the incident.
"My niece was badly mutilated and anyone responsible for her death should not go unpunished," she said.
The grandfather of the suspect, Justin Marui, 80, said Wanjiru was a frequent visitor to his grandson’s home.
“I used to see her sneak into his house quite often and I thought the young man was a good person because the teacher had fallen in love with him,” he said.
On Monday, Junior secondary school teachers in Kirinyaga county condemned the incident and demanded that the prime suspect be apprehended within 24 hours.
"We can't continue losing lives in such cruel manner and we demand that legal action be taken against him," Mr Paul Mbocho, the local chairman of JSS teachers said.
They said cases of gender-based violence had become rampant in the region and called on various government agencies to take necessary measures and stop the trend.
"We are still investigating the circumstances that led to the murder and we are pursuing the suspect. My assurance to the family is that we will smoke him out wherever he is so that he can face full force of the law," said Mr Okal.
