It is now six years since Murang'a Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) lied in court that the main suspect in the July 18, 2020 murder of eight-year-old Purity Njeri had escaped from Juvenile remand.
Njeri had been found strangled and her body stacked inside a sack and buried in the bush in the outskirts of Maragua town.
A 16-year-old boy who was her neighbour in Ihiga-ini village was arrested in connection with the murder, but what followed was a circus that has brought to the fore the question: Did Murang'a DCI deliberately bangle the case?
The deceased was a Grade Three pupil while the suspect was in Grade Six at Ihiga-ini Primary school.
Photo credit: Shutterstock
While he could not be named at the time because he was a minor, Mr Patrick Kombo is now 23.
According to the incident report that was prepared by Maragua Police Station, it was after Njeri’s parents noted that she was missing that a search was launched. It emerged that she had last been seen in the suspect’s family compound.
“A search was launched in the deceased’s compound and her body was found poorly concealed with soil near an avocado tree. Police were called. The body was removed and taken to Murang’a Level Five Hospital mortuary while members of the public apprehended the suspect and took him to the police station,” the report reads in part.
The murder attracted the wrath of Kenya Women Parliamentarians Association (Kewopa) which visited the bereaved family, led by area MP Mary Wamaua.
The circus began when the suspect was arraigned at the Murang’a High Court in the homicide case ref: 18/2020.
The particulars alleged that the accused while at Ihiga-ini village of Mbugua Sub-Location in Murang’a South Sub County, murdered the girl by way of strangulation, packed her in a sack and buried the body in a shallow grave.
The mention of the case was scheduled for October 5, 2020 at Murang'a courthouse before Justice Kanyi Kimondo but did not happen after the prosecution failed to produce the suspect in court, praying for two weeks to get its act together, forcing the case to be adjourned.
Even after the two weeks elapsed, the prosecution failed to produce the suspect in court.
Four months later, Justice Kimondo lamented in the open court that the prosecution was getting very economical with disclosure of the whereabouts of the suspect.
It was the start of anxiety for the deceased’s family which had started suspecting that the prosecution was not keen to serve justice for Njeri.
Njeri's father John Chege held a press conference on July 6, 2022 to report that he had since been informed by the investigating officer that the suspect had escaped from the Juvenile remand, hence stalling the case.
“I have been told by Murang’a South DCI that the suspect was no longer in custody. I was told to help in apprehending the suspect especially if I spotted him in the village since we are immediate neighbours,” Mr Chege said.
However, perusal of the court file did not encounter any incident where the prosecution applied for a warrant of arrest. Justice Kimondo was later transferred to Nairobi in September 2022, his earlier pressing for the suspect to be produced in court in the interest of justice, going mute.
As the case stalled, Mr Chege’s family disintegrated where his wife, Ms Mary Wairimu, deserted him in 2024.
“I had to leave my marriage and that village since neighbours had started spreading rumours that I was involved in the murder of my daughter. It was painful and I was afraid that I could be harmed,” she told Nation on June 2, 2026.
Mr Chege later died in 2025 owing to depression and the spirited search for his daughter’s justice went with him to the grave.
“By the time my husband died, he had made several tours to Nakuru, Laikipia and Lamu counties where the DCI had told him it was suspected the suspect was staying with relatives. My husband had taken up the role of an investigator in the alleged escape of the suspect. He died a defeated man,” she said.
When even the media had severally reported Mr Chege’s press conferences demanding that the DCI expedite the ‘re-arrest’ of the suspect, never at any given moment did the investigators come out to issue a statement.
On November 20, 2025, Nation in Murang’a reached out to the DCI boss John Kanda and the Deputy County Commissioner Gitonga Murungi asking for a photograph of the suspect.
Murang'a South DCI boss Mr John Kanda.
Photo credit: Pool
Both directed us to Deputy DCI boss Abdul Bili who responded: “Unfortunately, the file of the fugitive has no photo and we are still appealing for information to get us to him.”
On May 31, 2026 the then Murang’a South police boss Mr Alexander Shikondi told Nation that Mr Chege had severally visited his office seeking help for the ‘re-arrest’ of Mr Kombo.
“That was before I was transferred to Ruiru Sub-County and eventually to Kajiado where I am now the county police commander. I was sympathetic to the plight of Mr Chege. I had also grown to believe that the suspect had escaped. I was also convinced that Murang'a East Police Station which served as the Juvenile remand was investigating how he had escaped and who aided him or slept in the job,” he said.
Mr Shikondi added that at the time, reports that were flying around were that it was getting tough to arrest the underage suspect since he had no phone to be tracked, no Identity Card, no mobile wallet or even a bank account. "It was a search out there in the wilderness”.
Then came the June 1, 2026 shocker where Nation on routine beat to Murang’a Prison encountered Mr Kombo who we chatted with for about two minutes.
“I have never been out of custody since my arrest. I served the Juvenile incarceration until I was 18 years old and was later brought to this adult remand in 2024. I have all along been in legal custody. I am not aware that I was said to have escaped. This is a terrible place to be,” he said.
Mr Kombo said he has never been produced before court since he pleaded not guilty to the charge of murder “but I have been assigned a government lawyer who has promised me that I will be arraigned in September 2026”.
He said the lawyer advised him to change his plea from "not guilty" to "guilty", in order to attract a lenient sentence.
Advocate of the High Court Timothy Kariuki says this turn of events clearly depicts a deliberate scheme to ensure that the suspect never went to court and the case went cold.
“This stinks of deliberate bungling of the case and the matter should be probed because it shames the four corners of justice. Very many things do not add up and the case should be opened for a clean relook,” he said.
Mr Shikondi said he had seen statements in the file where it was indicated by the suspect that the girl had gone alone to the avocado tree at about 8am to harvest some…but at around 9.30am the girl was nowhere to be seen, only some few avocadoes pooled together.
It was when Mr Kombo was asked where Njeri was that he said he was not aware, and was forced to accompany the parents and some neighbours back to the farm where at about 10.30am the body was discovered buried in the shallow grave.
Mr Kariuki now says the case has several red herrings that call for re-investigation right from its foundation.
“What explains that the 16 year old suspect was in Grade Six? A retard easy to frame? If he had murdered, would he have got time to take the avocadoes to the deceased’s family and express concern about Njeri’s whereabouts?" he poses.
He wonders whether there was any effort to recover farm implements that were used in burying the deceased, whether there is a missing suspect(s) in the murder and above all, why the prosecution lied about whereabouts of the suspect in custody.
About the call for the suspect to now plead guilty, Mr Kariuki said this is a capital offense and the decision should be left to the counsel for the accused.
“It is for the advocate to look at the evidence and make a decision as to whether to enter a plea bargain negotiation or proceed with the case. If the accused pleads not guilty the matter will proceed to full hearing. But the suspect should not be coerced to plead guilty. Six years of stagnated case raises eyebrows. The court should be very concerned about this case,” he said.
The then Murang’a South DCI boss Mr David Cheruiyot, on June 3, 2026, told Nation: "That big issue is about the officer who was investigating the case…everything is about him or her.”
