Detectives in Murang’a have arrested four people after a taxi driver on Wednesday delivered a woman’s body, disguised as a parcel, to Kangari Police Station.
In custody so far are the victim’s estranged husband, two of her sons, and the taxi driver.
The dead woman was identified by relatives as Hannah Wanjiku, a 53-year-old mother of six. Her sister, Ms Mary Kiiru, said Wanjiku had suffered gender-based violence and had fled her marital home.
The late Hannah Wanjiku Kiiru, whose body was delivered to Kangare Police Station by a taxi driver on September 23, 2025, wrapped as a parcel.
Photo credit: Pool
“My late sister had three children out of wedlock, whom she left in the care of our parents in Kamukabi village before getting married in Mairi,” Ms Kiiru said. “She later had three more children, now aged 22, 20 and 19.”
In the past three months, Ms Kiiru added, her sister had left her matrimonial home in Mairi and rented a house in Njiiris village, where she worked as a casual labourer in tea plantations.
“We received a report on Tuesday that she had been murdered and packed as a parcel,” she said.
Kigumo Sub-county Police Commander Hassan Bashir confirmed that four suspects are assisting with investigations.
“The taxi driver drove into Kangari Police Station and narrated to our officers how he had been hired on September 23 to deliver a neatly wrapped parcel to a contact in Kangari town,” Mr Bashir said.
The driver, who operates public transport between Makomboki market and Kangari town, said he was approached by a middle-aged man wearing a hood and carrying luggage.
“The man asked whether I could deliver the parcel to a contact who would be waiting in Kangari town,” the driver said in his police statement. He charged Sh500 for the delivery.
“I helped the man load the luggage onto the carrier of my car. After he paid me in cash, I drove off, leaving him behind,” he recounted.
“I had been told that the recipient of the luggage would be waiting outside a known business premises. But when I arrived, there was no one. I asked around, but no one showed any interest in the luggage. My customer had assured me that he had shared my car’s number plates with the recipient, who was supposedly waiting,” he wrote.
After waiting for about an hour, he grew suspicious. The taxi driver said he panicked when he realised he had neither the customer’s contacts nor those of the recipient.
“That is when I decided to deliver the parcel to the police station for safekeeping. I thought that if my customer came looking for it, I could refer him here,” he said in his statement.
According to the report, “when the taxi driver tried to unload the parcel from the carrier, it emerged that he needed help, prompting several officers to assist.”
That is when the grim details began to unfold. The package was unusually heavy and emitted an odour that attracted flies. It had been wrapped in several layers.
“The officers unwrapped the package and the details are as follows: a fresh corpse of a woman aged between 45 and 50, dressed in a red dress, wrapped in three blankets and assorted clothing, including a blazer bearing the logo of Gatanga Secondary School, all packed into two white sacks,” said Mr Bashir.
In a twist, officers promptly arrested the taxi driver as a murder suspect to assist with investigations.
“Postmortem findings will shed light on how the woman died, while forensic analysis will help identify anyone who may have come into contact with the luggage,” Mr Bashir said.
“The taxi driver, who is in custody, will also help us establish whether the [dead woman’s] husband or either of her two sons recruited him to deliver the parcel.”
