A post-mortem exam and DNA analysis of the human head recovered from a dam in Kiambaa on Sunday evening will help ascertain if it belongs to Rita Waeni.
The exercise, which was scheduled to take place on Tuesday, was postponed as Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) homicide detectives took over the case.
Government Pathologist Johansen Oduor explained to the Nation that post-mortem on the head was important since last week’s exercise was inconclusive as to what was Waeni’s exact cause of death.
Shocking revelations in the Rita Waeni murder
While having stayed in the water for days softened the outer layer of the skin, which could conceal evidence of external abrasions, Dr Oduor said the inner layers of the skin would still provide evidence of what transpired.
“We shall establish if there were strangulation marks on the neck and whether there was blunt trauma as would be seen with bruises in the inner layer of the skin. Additionally, a DNA examination will help prove scientifically that the head belongs to the victim,” he explained.
Waeni’s killers decapitated her head at the lower neck and dumped it separately from the rest of her dismembered body 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.
Family breaks silence over killing of 20-year-old Rita Waeni
Detectives have since arrested two Nigerians — William Ovie Opia and Johnbull Asbor — on suspicion of having committed the killing.
The two were arraigned in Makadara Monday as police sought to detain them for eight days to complete investigations.
“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 detective Benjamin Wangila stated.
The two will remain in custody until next week on Wednesday when the police are expected to file charges against them.
Waeni’s body was discovered on Sunday last week stuffed in a paper bag in an apartment on TRM Drive, Nairobi.
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.
