Crime: Murders that shocked the country in 2019

The year 2019 had barely started when Kenyans were treated to the first of what would turn out to be a string of gruesome murders that lasted the whole year, with a recurring theme of multiple sexual partners, jealousy and wealth or property.

It became almost predictable that a month would not pass without someone getting murdered by persons close to them in a manner that would send the country into a frenzy of rumours that would last until the next killing.

Today, we look at some of the murders that stunned the country this year.

Mary Wambui Kamangara

The mystery of how two women, each vying for the heart of businessman Joseph Kori, spent an afternoon together before the body of one of them was discovered at a dam in Ruiru in January is one of the most gripping murders of 2019. Mr Kori, who was married to Ms Kamangara, had a relationship with Ms Judy Wangui Mungai, who once worked at a hardware store that the businessman operated before winning a government tender to supply electric poles.

That Mr Kori loved his mistress was not in doubt as he had rented for her a house at Four Ways Junction on Kiambu road and bought her a white Mercedes Benz identical to his wife’s. Interestingly Ms Kamangara knew of the relationship and was friends with Ms Wangui. They would even hang out together on weekends.

After an afternoon of partying, Ms Wangui invited Kamangara to her house at Four Ways Junction. The next morning Kamangara’s body was found near Courtesy Beach. Both Ms Wangui and Mr Kori were initially arrested for the murder. The businessman was later released after it was established that he was in Ngong on January 26, the day his wife was murdered and is now a state witness. The hearing of the case will start in February next year.

Ivy Wangechi

On the morning of April 9, as patients and medical staff at the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret went about their activities, a young man parked close to the Accident and Emergency wing without raising any suspicions.

Inside the hospital, a young medical student, Ivy Wangechi, who was supposed to graduate this week, did her routine rounds at the Nyayo General Ward without knowing that a man obsessed with her was outside with an axe in the boot of his car.

Naftal Kinuthia, who had travelled from Nairobi that morning, called Ms Wangechi incessantly, as he had done the previous weekend after sending her money for her birthday, but she did not answer. Both Wangechi and Mr Kinuthia hailed from Thika and attended the same primary school.

At about 10am, as Wangechi took her first break, Mr Kinuthia lunged at her and hacked her to death the moment she appeared at the hospital’s doors. The hearing of the murder trial is set to start on March 6, 2020, as Mr Kinuthia hopes to get a plea bargain deal.

Fr Michael Kyengo

The 40-year-old priest disappeared from his parent’s Tala home in Machakos County on October 5. His car was later found abandoned in Kilifi after his brother Boniface Mutiso reported the matter to police. Investigators traced the priest’s cell phone and credit card, leading to the arrest of two suspects who then led them to a shallow grave on a riverbed in Mbeere South, Embu County. To date it has not been established why the priest was killed, but Michael Muthinji, Kavivya Mwangangi and Solomon Mutava have been charged with the murder.

Joseph Nyakundi

On March 17, top city lawyer Assa Nyakundi, his wife Lydia Kunga and son Joseph left their Muthaiga North house in a Toyota Axio to attend church along Mombasa Road. Once at the church, Mr Nyakundi placed his pistol, loaded with 14 bullets, under the co-driver’s seat.

The church service ended at 12.10pm and Ms Kunga called her son to bring the car round. However Ms Kunga, being an usher in church, was requested by two friends to accompany them to Mater Hospital to visit a sick child. Mr Nyakundi and his son then left together for home. Only the lawyer reached home alive after he shot his son in mysterious circumstances.

After spending six weeks in hospital the lawyer was charged with manslaughter prompting a protest by the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) and the Director of Criminal Investigations (DCI). It is now eight months after the shooting but Mr Nyakundi is yet to take a plea for murder as high octane legal games continue to play in the corridors of justice.

Judy Mwai and Catherine Nyaguthie

Ms Mwai and her daughter Nyaguthie were on the night of September 26 dropped off at 1am at their house in Golden Gate Estate, South B, Nairobi. The two used their back gate to access the house as the Prado waited outside. They then left 15 minutes later and were dropped off by the same car more than an hour later at 2.30am.

Nobody noticed that anything was amiss until the two failed to visit Ms Mwai’s husband at the Meridian Hospital the next day as it had been routine. Ms Mwai’s husband has for the past four years been battling a stroke that has confined him to hospital. Before falling sick he was a businessman with properties across Nairobi. His family has been disposing part of the property to foot his hospital bills and this was creating some friction.

Ms Mwai and Ms Nyaguthie were discovered dead in their bedrooms with signs of strangulation. No one has been arrested for the murders.

Benjamin Kinyali

The National Youth Council member suspected his wife Salome Kathini was having an affair with Joshua Mutunga. He decided to revenge by starting a relationship with Mr Mutunga’s wife. The wife-sharing was widely known among their friends and families and it greatly strained Mr Kinyali’s marriage.

At the beginning of April, Mr Kinyali displayed nude photos of himself and his rival’s wife on his phone, upsetting his wife. Out of anger, Ms Kathini shared the photos to a family WatsApp group prompting a meeting to iron out the matter.

The meeting took place at Mutuku market on April 15 but Mr Kinyali did not show up. Three days later, his partly burnt body was found in thicket near Tiva River in Kwa Vonza, 25 kilometres from Kitui town. Joshua Mutunga, Kitumbi Munyoki, Mutua Muasya and Koki Kimanzi were charged with the murder.

Joyce Syombua, Shanice Maua and Prince Michael

The relationship between Joyce Syombua and Major Peter Mugure started way back when they were pupils at St Benards Primary School in Kayole, Nairobi. The two got married immediately Mugure finished college. They, however, started having marital problems and separated just months after Shanice was born. After the birth of Prince Michael, they completely fell out. Major Mugure claimed that Prince was not his son – the court had to force him to provide for the child.

Then on October 25 Major Mugure requested Ms Syombua to take the two children to Laikipia where he was based so that he could bond with them before Shanice’s 11th birthday. That was the last time Syombua and her two children were seen. Their bodies were retrieved from a public cemetery buried in gunny bags after 20 days of searching. Major Mugure is yet to take plea for the murder.

Tob Cohen

After staying in Kenya for more than 30 years, the former chief executive of Dutch conglomerate Phillips East Africa, had all the fine things he wanted in life, apart from peace. At the heart of his problems was a fight over a multimillion-shilling property, and divorce and assault cases he had filed against his former secretary-turned wife, Sarah Wairimu.

Then on the afternoon of July 20 at around 2pm Cohen disappeared. But that was before two letters, dated July 20, 2019, purporting to withdraw both the divorce and assault case were sent to his lawyers. Then the rumours began. His workers said he had left the house on the day he disappeared while his wife maintained he had left the country to catch a break. A two-month search for his body eventually ended on September 13 at Cohen’s home in Kitisuru after DCI George Kinoti led detectives to a septic tank in the compound. Ms Wairimu and Peter Karanja have been charged for the murder.