‘I did it’: Son of murdered Nakuru tycoon confesses

On September 8, the body of a prominent Nakuru businessman was found lying in a pool of blood inside his Nissan station wagon, just outside his gate. 

Charles Thairu Kinyanjui’s body had deep cuts on the head and broken arms. His wife, Ms Jacinta Wangari, 48, and their two children rushed him to Mediheal Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

Kinyanjui had a thriving auto spares shop and had also invested in real estate. Needless to say, he was doing well.

So, who wanted Kinyanjui dead? Was it a case of business rivalry?

As detectives pondered the killing, preliminary evidence led them to the first responders. In a shocking twist of events, investigations pointed to a suspected case of murder, which led to the arrest of Ms Wangari, her daughter Margaret Thairu, 24, and younger son, Victor Mburu, 23.

Detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) believe the woman conspired with her children to kill her husband. But there was a problem: The eldest son and main suspect, Mr Sospeter Kinyanjui, was missing. While seeking permission from the court to detain them a little longer, detectives said Mr Kinyanjui had gone into hiding.

Pool of blood

“The arrest of the family members was effected after detectives found inconsistencies in the circumstances surrounding the murder, where [Kinyanjui’s body] was found in a pool of blood in his car parked outside the gate to his home, yet there were blood stains in one of the bedrooms, which someone had attempted to clean,” said Mr Benson Mutie, the officer in charge of the DCI office in Nakuru East Sub-county.

Nakuru resident magistrate Faith Munyi allowed police to hold the suspects for 12 days at Central Police Station.

Two days later, however, Mr Kinyanjui, 28, surrendered to Mwariki Police Station and confessed to killing his father.

He later led detectives to an open field in Ndege Ndimu area in Milaloni location, Bahati Sub-county where he had burnt some of the bloodstained clothes and hidden the murder weapon.

Police recovered two iron rods, one iron file, which had blood stains, remains of burnt pieces of clothes, and two partially burnt syringes. A burnt belt, hair gel container and a tin piggy bank were also recovered. From the car, officers recovered a stone and a broken whisky bottle.

Police believe Mr Kinyanjui — who was in his father’s bad books — could have committed the murder under the influence of drugs. A bodaboda operator, he had a history of drug abuse.

Bad blood

“He claims his father was always hard on him and there was bad blood between him and other family members,” a source said. 

Ms Thairu is an insurance company staffer, and Mr Mburu a charcoal trader.

The suspects are detained at Bondeni Police Station. Mr Kinyanjui will be arraigned today.

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