Two suspects who have been in police custody for the last one and a half months over the murder of a Kiambu businesswoman were on Monday formally charged.
Judy Wangi Mungai and Michel Githae Mathenge were arraigned at Kiambu High Court where they were charged with killing Mary Wambui Kamangara in January this year.
The duo was charged that on January 26 and 27 jointly with others not before the court at Four ways Junction estate along Kiambu-Nairobi road, they murdered Ms Kamangara.They appeared before Kiambu High Court Judge Christine Meoli where they denied the charges.
Prosecution counsel Christine Ndombi opposed the duo to be released on bond.The court set March 18 as the next mention of the case when the pre-bail report will be presented.
The duo was supposed to take a plea on Tuesday last week but the defence said it was not ready for the caseLawyer Doreen Kalii, who was holding brief for Wangui’s lawyer, Cliff Ombeta, said they were not ready for the case on Monday since they were attending to other matters.Sam Ogutu, representing Mr Mathenge, also said he was not ready and needed more time to acquaint himself with the case.
On Monday, the court set pre-trial conference of the case to be held on July 30 while the hearing of the case was set for October 7 and 8.In the meanwhile, the duo will remain in custody awaiting the outcome of their bond application.
Ms Kalii’s attempt to make an application to have the court order the release of Wangui’s Mercedes Benz which has been in the custody of police was not successful after the judge told her to allow the court to first deal with the bond issue.Police two weeks ago released unconditionally Joseph Kori Karue the husband of the slain businessman who has been in police custody together with the two suspects.Kori was released from custody at Gigiri Police Station where he was being held.
Police officers were however tight-lipped about his release, with investigating officer John Wahome only confirming he had been released.
Mr Wahome said they did not require to take Kori back to court in order to secure his release since he had not been officially charged.According to police sources, forensic analysis of Kori’s phone, as well as witness statements, exonerated him from the murder claim.
In his statement to detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) in Juja where the matter was being handled before DCI Director George Kinoti transferred it to the homicide unit, Kori had said he last talked to Wambui at 4 pm on the day she was killed.
He said he hanged up the call after his wife informed him that she was with Judy Wangui, believed to be Kori’s lover and now the chief suspect in the case.
He said he neither called his wife nor Wangui after that as he did not want to escalate what was already turning out to be a day of drama between him and his wife.
An autopsy two weeks ago revealed Wambui’s killers hit her nine times on the head thereby inflicting serious injuries that contributed to her death.The postmortem report also indicated the assailants suffocated her after realizing that she had not died.Wambui’s mutilated body was found dumped in a dam near Mugutha estate in Juja constituency on January 27.
The post-mortem report, released seven days after her body was found at a dam in Mugutha, Juja, further revealed that she had a deep cut in one side of her forehead.
The autopsy was conducted at the Kenyatta University funeral home on Tuesday last week by government pathologist Dr Peter Ndegwa.It was conducted in the presence of a team of investigators, led by Mr Arwasa, and relatives of the deceased.
Ms Wambui, who police suspect was murdered in a love triangle, was last seen alive on January 26 at Homeland Inn, where she was allegedly seen with Judy Wambui before they were joined by two men where they shared a meal.
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