Residents of Sky Way area in Manyatta, Kisumu, were left in shock on Saturday morning after they discovered the body of a woman next to a laundry shop.
The body of the woman, found lying on her back, had been dumped in a corridor between a storey apartment building and a shop.
The unidentified woman, thought to be in her 30s, is suspected to have been sexually assaulted elsewhere before her body was dumped at the scene. Residents who gathered at the scene could not immediately identify her.
Mr Samuel Onyango, a motorcycle operator whose base is near where the body was found, said he and his colleagues were alerted by some women.
"We then called the village elder and police. The woman was naked and had some scratches on her hand. The area around her was also disturbed, and there were footprints, indicating there had been some struggle there," said Mr Onyango.
He urged the county government to install street lights in the area, saying it is usually very dark and that could be why the killers chose to dump the body there.
Police said they are yet to conclusively establish the cause of death but believe the deceased was killed elsewhere.
"Preliminary investigations show that she was raped elsewhere and dumped in the corridor at the scene, where she was left struggling until her death," said Mr Edward Ndirangu, Kisumu Central Sub-County Police Commander.
According to Mr Ndirangu, the body had no visible injuries. The body was moved to the Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital mortuary awaiting a post-mortem examination and forensic analysis.
Residents of Sky Way in Manyatta said that, besides the ongoing road construction in the area, installing street lighting was critical to keeping criminals away.
Business and family rivalry
Meanwhile, a Siaya-based businessman charged with the murder of his brother in 2023 over an alleged business and family rivalry has been found guilty of the offence.
Mr Vincent Ochieng Ongoro and his co-accused, Mr Chrispine Kennedy Awambo, had been charged with the murder of Mr Jared Ongoro Odhiambo contrary to Sections 203 and 204 of the Penal Code.
The court heard that on September 4, 2023, at River Nzoia Bridge in Siranga Sublocation, Siaya County, jointly with others not before the court, the two accused planned and murdered Jared.
Siaya High Court Judge David Kemei said the prosecution, led by Joyce Mumo, proved the case beyond reasonable doubt against the two, placing Mr Awambo at the scene of the crime and linking Mr Vincent Ongoro to planning and organising the killing of his brother.
According to the judgment delivered by Justice Kemei, the case's major turning point came with the arrest of boda boda rider Michael Omondi, who was found in possession of the deceased's mobile phone days after the incident.
Mr Omondi, who was later charged with robbery with violence at the Ukwala Law Courts, told the court that Mr Awambo hired him on the evening of September 4, 2023, to ferry him to a funeral in Siranga area and later to River Nzoia Bridge, where Awambo killed Jared Ongoro.
Mr Omondi, who later became a prosecution witness, testified that after committing the murder, Mr Awambo instructed him to ride him back to Siriwo Business Complex, owned by Vincent Ongoro, who paid him Sh1,000 for the services rendered to Mr Awambo before warning him of dire consequences if he ever spoke about what he had witnessed.
The boda boda operator also disclosed that a day after the incident, Mr Awambo approached him seeking to borrow Sh1,000 and handed him a mobile phone as collateral. Mr Omondi said he unsuspectingly inserted his SIM card into the phone and used it for two weeks before police tracked and arrested him.
Prosecution witnesses revealed that before the murder, Jared and Vincent, both successful businessmen, had fallen out and had each reported the other to the local police station.
Judith Anyango, the widow of Jared Ongoro, welcomed the judgment, saying the deceased's children had long sought justice for the murder of their father and were relieved that justice had finally been served.
The two accused persons will be sentenced on July 3, 2026.
