Police in Nanyuki town, Laikipia County, have launched investigations to establish the motive behind the brutal killing of a clinical officer at his rented house.
The body of John Mwaniki, 30, was found dumped outside a five-storey flat in Thingithu Estate on Wednesday morning.
Mwaniki, who lived alone, previously worked at Nanyuki Teaching and Referral Hospital,
Nanyuki Location Chief Duncan Wachira, who spoke at the scene, said initial investigations indicated that the clinical officer was stabbed in his house before the killers moved the body near the main gate of the estate.
There were bloodstains in the living room and on the pavement, and detectives, who also questioned the tenants, were trying to establish whether the victim’s body was thrown to the ground or dragged to the pavement after the killing.
Mr Wachira said there appeared to have been a big fight in the house, with blood splattered around the room.
"The deceased was stabbed several times in the chest and neck. There are signs of a struggle inside his one-room house on the second floor of the five-storey building," said Mr Wachira.
Residents of Thingithu Estate in Nanyuki Town watch from a distance as police officers load the body of a 30 year-old medic who was stabbed to death by unknown assailants.
Photo credit: Mwangi Ndirangu I Nation Media Group
The building's caretaker, who was not present during the 5am incident, said Mwaniki had moved into the building this year and had indicated he would be moving out by the end of May.
A colleague of his revealed that the clinical officer was supposed to start working at Segera Mission Hospital on June 1 and that was the reason he was moving out of the rented room.
"I usually report to the building in the morning for general cleaning and other duties. When I arrived today morning, I noticed a police vehicle and a crowd milling around the building and later learnt that one of the tenants had been killed," said the caretaker, Mr John Karinga.
There are about 40 tenants in the building and it is not yet clear why neighbours did not raise the alarm during the disturbance, which reportedly started at around 4.30am. How the killers gained access to the building, whose gate is normally locked from the inside at night, is a mystery.
A police officer at the scene said the landlord had been taken to Nanyuki police station to record a statement, to assist detectives in the investigation.
