Revealed: Rita Waeni was strangled to death before body dismembered
What you need to know:
- Dr Oduor said the main findings were that the head had been chopped off from the neck at the level of C5 (vertebrae on the neck)
- Rita's family positively identified the head from its physical features including the forehead, hair and teeth alignment
Government Pathologist Johansen Oduor has revealed that Rita Waeni Muendo was strangled and decapitated before her body parts were dumped.
Speaking after conducting a postmortem examination on the head collected in Kiambu and believed to be hers (after positive identification by the family), Dr Oduor said the main findings were that the head had been chopped off from the neck at the level of C5 (vertebrae on the neck).
"There was bruising on the scalp which to me looked like they were caused by a blunt object and then upon looking at the neck structures, we also saw some fractures of bones which are usually very important in homicide," said Dr Oduor.
The pathologist explained that while Rita's family positively identified the head from its physical features including the forehead, hair and the teeth alignment, samples will still have to be tested at the government chemist to see if they match those of her other body parts.
"The head is decomposed and we have to use scientific ways to know if indeed it belonged to the victim," explained Dr Oduor at the City Mortuary, Nairobi on Thursday.
The bruises on the head and fractured bones on the neck may have been inflicted by a blunt object.
The exercise was conducted at the City Mortuary following an earlier one done on her other body parts last week.
Rita’s killers dumped her head separately from the rest of her dismembered body parts in what is believed to have been an attempt to conceal evidence.
On Monday, Waeni’s relatives concluded that the head was hers after viewing it at the City Mortuary and seeing the items it was recovered with at Kiambaa police station in Kiambu County.
Detectives have since arrested two Nigerians namely William Ovie Opia and Johnbull Asbor on suspicion of having committed the killing.
The two were arraigned at the Makadara law courts on Monday as the police sought to detain them for eight days to complete the probe.
“The foreigners are found to be unlawfully present in Kenya since William Ovie Opia’s passport number A08322863 is expired while Johnbull Asibor does not have a passport, only claiming he lost it about a year ago,” an affidavit filed by the Investigating Officer, detective Benjamin Wangila stated.
The two will be in custody till next week on Wednesday when the police are expected to file charges against them.
Meanwhile, homicide detectives who have taken over the probe and guide on the next post mortem date as the probe into the murder enters the second week.
Rita’s body was discovered on Sunday last week, decapitated and stuffed in a paper bag in an apartment along TRM drive, Nairobi.
Three days later, her family said she had left her aunt’s residence in Syokimau to meet with a friend but instead of returning home, her father started receiving strange messages from her number demanding for a sh500,000 ransom to secure her release.
The family reported the matter to the police as more demands came in even after the Uniehad been murdered.
A post-mortem of her body revealed that she had consumed alcohol at the time of her death and that her killers clipped her nails in a possible attempt to hide evidence.
Toxicological tests will show whether she was poisoned before she was killed.
