Only one murder charge ready for self-confessed serial killer
Suspected serial killer Moses Kipchirchir hides his face at Mogotio police station on December 27, 2021.
What you need to know:
- Mr Moses Kipchirchir was arrested on November 13 in connection with her disappearance businesswoman Veronicah Kanini.
- Eleven days later, he told the police he had killed the woman and buried her body in a shallow grave and led detectives to the site.
Detectives are only ready to charge the Nakuru serial killer with one murder despite his revelations that he had killed eight people in the past 10 years.
Mogotio Sub-County criminal investigations boss Lucas Tumbo said Mr Moses Kipchirchir is to be charged with the murder of businesswoman Veronicah Kanini.
He said they have to forward the files of his wife Ms Purity Chebet and their 18-month-old son Ezra, both of whom Mr Kipchirchir also confessed to having murdered, to the Directorate of Public Prosecutions for further direction.
“We took samples to the government chemist in Kisumu County for DNA analyses. We are still waiting for results for compilation then the files will be taken to the ODPP for further direction where charges will be pressed against Mr Kipchirchir,” he said.
On Mr Samwel Njoroge, the ranger whom Mr Kipchirchir confessed to have killed and buried in Kaptunga Forest in 2012, a file has been forwarded to the DCIO Molo for further probes.
Mr Tumbo said a postmortem on the remains of Chebet and her son at the Nakuru City mortuary revealed that they died of strangulation.
Killed his wife and son
“We will file for a production order so that the suspect will be remanded at the Mogotio police station, he seems to have more revelations of the murders he has committed, we will further interrogate him; maybe he will open up,” he said.
Ms Kanini left her home on Mawanga estate, Nakuru County, on the early morning of November 12 to her usual workplace in Mogotio market where she had been hawking seat covers for three years.
However, she never returned home that evening, sending her family into panic and prompting her husband, Mr Mariko Njuguna, to lodge a missing-person report at the Nakuru central police station and later at the Mogotio police station.
On November 13, Mr Kipchirchir was arrested in connection with her disappearance after he was found in possession of her phone. Eleven days later, he told the police he had killed the trader and buried her body in a shallow grave and led detectives to the site on the banks of the Molo River in Baringo County.
Ms Kanini’s body had decomposed so badly that her family only identified her by the yellow sweater she was wearing on the day she disappeared.
One month later, Mr Kipchirchir confessed to having killed his wife and son after she reported him to the authorities for forcibly taking custody of the child. Mr Kipchirchir feared he would be arrested and taken back to prison after he was sentenced to a one-year jail term for assaulting Ms Chebet.
Victims' bodies exhumed
The bodies of the two were exhumed from separate shallow graves two kilometres apart on the banks of the Molo River.
On December 29, 2021, Mr Kipchirchir led detectives to the expansive Kiptunga Forest, which is part of the Eastern Mau Forest, to yet another shallow grave of a man he allegedly killed in 2012.
The suspect confessed that while burning charcoal in the forest, he hacked the victim using an axe then buried him. He said the ranger had confronted him for illegally felling trees.
He said Mr Njoroge refused to take a Sh1,200 bribe meant to secure his freedom.
On January 8 Mr Kipchirchir made yet another shocking revelation that he had killed four other people and buried them in the same manner between 2017 and 2018. However, police and Mogotio residents were left puzzled after they failed to find the remains of the victims
Mr Kipchirchir is currently being held at the Nakuru GK prison and will appear at the High Court in Kabarnet on Monday.
