The daughter of a Kirinyaga politician, who was murdered in Thika Town's Biafra Estate on October 14, had walked into a well-organised sex and drugs syndicate, police investigations indicate.
Called to Thika from her mother's Kamakis estate in Kiambu County on the afternoon of October 12 by a young female friend (name withheld), Seth Nyakio,23, was first taken to a swimming party.
Her mother, Lucy Njeri, who is also a nominated member of the Kirinyaga county assembly, said her daughter sent her photos as she swam in a popular hotel's swimming pool in the town.
The photos show the Diploma in Media Studies graduate enjoying the company of male and female colleagues.
A member of the partying team revealed to Nation.Africa that as the night wore on, liquor flowed freely and there was use of substances.
"The party was adventurous. There is this girl who for a commission connects beautiful girls to clients for sex," she said.
Ms Nyakio's mother confessed to being privy to the information regarding the sex and drugs brokerage woman, who her daughter had last been seen with.
"There was a time this woman visited my house and I disliked her at first sight. I cautioned my daughter to keep away from such company," Ms Njeri said.
After the party, Ms Nyakio while under the influence retired to one of the girl's rental rooms in the crime-prone Biafra Estate.
According to Thika West Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) preliminary findings, Ms Nyakio remained in Biafra on October 13.
"Her phone signal indicated that she did not leave the area. There are several contacts of interest that reached her, specifically one person of high interest," the report reads in part which forms incident number 140/14/10/24.
According to the report, the male suspect had been reported earlier to the police about how he had issued death threats to Nyakio's female friend.
"Ms Nyakio was actively involved in the case about the threats," the report reads.
Coincidentally, Ms Nyakio was being hosted in the rental room belonging to this female friend. This female friend in her statement to the police says that besides the threatening lover whom she claimed to have since jilted, she also had another male lover who she was dating. Both men, she told police, had keys to her rental room in Biafra estate.
It is in this room that Ms Nyakio was found naked on the bed at around 4 pm, murdered.
"The tenant (Nyakio's host) says she left for Thika town on October 14 morning to attend to personal issues," the DCI preliminary report reads in part.
She added that it was when she came back to the house later in the day that she found her friend dead. She then alerted the police and the deceased's mother.
However, Ms Njeri insisted that she received the call in the morning and not in the evening as claimed.
"That is the start of my suspicions that the police are taking me for a ride in the search for justice for my murdered daughter," Ms Njeri said. She added that "in my visits to Thika police station, I usually find this woman in whose house my daughter was found dead in the company of investigators.
"She appears well connected since even at times she is seen resting inside detectives' unmarked cars with nothing to suggest she is a suspect. In fact, you can mistake her for a female detective".
Some investigators tasked to crack the case are probing the possibility that the killer(s) might have been targeting this woman, but upon finding Nyakio in the room, either as a case of mistaken identity or deliberate, sexually assaulted her. In the struggle that ensued, she was killed through strangulation.
Another theory is that after she was left alone in the house, gang members residing in the same plot accessed the room and after sexually assaulting her, murdered her.
Ms Nyakio's mother said her daughter was not dating and was not abusing drugs "according to her confessions to me".
The autopsy that has since been conducted by two pathologists at General Kago mortuary stated that the most probable cause of her death was "manual strangulation while her nose and mouth were covered by a palm".
The autopsy by Dr John Mathaiya (for the state) and Dr Charles Muturi for the family stated that the killer(s) was or were powerful enough to manage to pin her down.
"Her body bore abrasions around vaginal opening with blood streaks around it to suggest sexual assault," the report reads.
It adds that Ms Nyakio also had suffered multiple bruises on the neck, cheeks, breasts, thighs, eyebrows, and elbows to suggest the sexual assault had met resistance.
The two pathologists also concurred to carry out more research based on DNA, toxicology, and histology to extract more accurate status reports shortly before and after the death.
To that end, they concurred to take blood, urine, and intestinal samples as well as vaginal and renal swabs for further tests.
Also, the two pathologists deemed it ideal to remove one of her kidneys for further tests, concluding that "there is no doubt the death was a case of femicide".
Nearly two weeks later, no suspect has been arrested in connection with the murder but area senior cops insist that no effort will be spared in the search for justice.
A junior police officer tipped Nation.Africa thus: "You do not know what you are probing here...this is a mafia-like syndicate where drugs and sex are the currency".
The officer said that "the syndicate targets the students in the many Thika town-based career institutions where beauty meets drug barons in a money game that leaves many families in tears".
A former senior administrator in the area said: "Biafra especially as a name speaks volumes...Our youths and more the female students have perfected the acts of love triangles ending in very tragic situations".
The officer added that so serious is the Biafra security threat that at one time the Mt Kenya university demanded that Thika police station assign security to the estate to protect them from the lure of drug dealers.
"Specifically for Nyakio's death, look no further than drug peddlers having a base there as there is a ready market from the students. Also, explore sex trade coordinated by a team of girls residing in the estate and Nyakio might have been indoctrinated into the network," the officer said.
Thika West Sub County police commander Mr Laurence Muchangi said "All those aspects form the horizons of our investigations and anyone out there with helpful information should pass it to us in confidence".
