A month-long search for the final missing body part of Joy Kanini, 25, whose dismembered remains had been recovered at different locations across Nyeri, was concluded on Wednesday with the recovery of her head.
It was recovered from a pit latrine nearly a kilometre from the house where police believe she was killed on the night of June 9.
The breakthrough came after the prime suspect, her boyfriend John Muriithi, alias Tizo, led homicide detectives to a shared pit latrine in Ngangarithi Estate, where investigators believe he dumped the head.
But while detectives have now recovered all the body parts, investigators are grappling with a troubling question of how the suspect allegedly transported the head nearly a kilometre away and disposed of it inside a residential compound without attracting attention?
Kanini, a shoe vendor, was last seen alive on June 9 after spending the day with her parents in Nyeri town before visiting Muriithi at his one-bedroom rented house in Ngangarithi Estate.
Joy Kanini, whose dismembered body was found stuffed in a sack on June 11, 2026 at Ngangarithi Estate in Nyeri County. Police are now searching for her head, which is missing.
Photo credit: Mercy Mwende | Nation
Neighbours told investigators that the couple had a turbulent on-and-off relationship marked by frequent quarrels and reconciliations. Their latest disagreement is believed to have been triggered by allegations of infidelity.
According to preliminary investigations, an argument between the two turned fatal after Muriithi allegedly pushed Kanini, causing her to fall and hit a hard object.
When he realised she was no longer breathing, detectives believe he panicked.
Investigators say he dragged the body into the bathroom where he allegedly dismembered it into five pieces, using running water to wash away evidence.
The first discovery came in the early hours of June 11 when Kanini's torso, stuffed inside a green sack, was found outside the perimeter fence of Muriithi's compound.
The remains were taken to the Nyeri County Referral Hospital mortuary and booked as those of an unidentified woman.
Later that evening, detectives recovered her lower limbs wrapped in black polythene bags and abandoned only metres from where the torso had been found.
In what investigators believe was an attempt to divert suspicion, Muriithi allegedly telephoned Kanini's father, Reverend Peter Gathu, claiming she had gone missing.
He reportedly told the clergyman he had last seen Kanini on June 9 and had already reported her disappearance at Nyeri Central Police Station.
Joy Kanini's father, Reverend Peter Gathu, addresses journalists outside the Nyeri County Referral Hospital morgue on June 16, 2026.
Photo credit: Mercy Mwende | Nation
But after accompanying Rev Gathu to the station, Muriithi allegedly excused himself to make a phone call and vanished.
Inside, they recovered a machete, black polythene bags, a blood-stained mattress and clothes suspected to bear blood stains.
Around the same time, residents complained of a foul smell coming from a shared pit latrine about 20 metres from the suspect's house.
After the latrine was demolished, detectives recovered Kanini's hands and feet wrapped in black polythene bags.
Police believe Muriithi intended to dispose of the torso elsewhere but abandoned the plan when dawn approached, forcing him to dump it over the compound's perimeter fence.
The recovery of Kanini's head, however, has opened a new line of investigation.
Joy Kanini, whose body was found dismembered and stuffed in a sack on June 11, 2026 at Ngangarithi Estate, Nyeri county.
Photo credit: Mercy Mwende | Nation
Unlike the other body parts, it was found in another neighbourhood, nearly a kilometre away.
Detectives are trying to establish how the suspect allegedly transported it unnoticed and gained access to the shared pit latrine inside a gated residential compound.
Residents interviewed by the Daily Nation on July 14 said they neither knew Muriithi nor had ever seen him in the area.
Investigators now believe another person may have helped dispose of the head and are pursuing additional suspects.
In a statement issued on July 15, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) confirmed that Kanini's head had been recovered alongside blood-stained clothing.
“The recovered head was taken to the Nyeri County Referral Hospital Mortuary, where it will undergo a post-mortem examination, while the clothing has been secured for detailed forensic analysis as investigations continue,” the DCI said.
Central Region Director of Criminal Investigations Dr Abraham Mugambi said detectives are actively pursuing other persons of interest believed to have been involved in the killing.
