'No evidence': Suspect in the murder of Eric Maigo released without charge
Nairobi Hospital Acting Finance Director Eric Maigo, who was found dead at his Nairobi Woodley home.
What you need to know:
- The lead investigating officer in the case Patrick Boge asked that Lusenga be released from custody because they had found no evidence that she was involved in Maigo's murder.
A Nairobi court has released a woman arrested in connection with the murder of Nairobi Hospital’s Finance Director Erick Maigo after detectives failed to provide evidence linking her to the crime.
Ms Cynthia Lusenga Andayo alias Flora Akoth Okonda, who was carrying a baby in the dock, walked free after police told Milimani Senior Principal Magistrate Bernard Ochoi that they had “found no evidence linking the suspect to the heinous and brutal murder of Maigo”.
“We acknowledge that the investigations conducted so far in this matter reveal that Lusenga was not involved in the matter. We ask you to close the investigation file against her and release her unconditionally,” lead investigator Patrick Boge told the court.
Crime scene and forensic analysis of Ms Lusenga’s fingerprints and other evidence recovered from the crime scene did not reveal any link.
Following the revelation, the magistrate said there was no good reason to keep Ms Lusenga in custody and released her unconditionally.
Ms Lusenga had been in custody for five days. She was arrested in Kibera on suspicion of being involved in the murder of Maigo, whose lifeless body was discovered at his Woodley home in Nairobi, with 25 stab wounds.
Detectives say the suspect was captured by surveillance cameras leaving the victim's home in Woodley Annex-Upper, Nairobi.
Police have said they are looking to arrest the main suspect, whose images were captured on CCTV and circulated last week.
Last week, mainstream and social media was awash with photos of the suspected killer scaling the victim’s home perimeter wall. After landing on the other side, the suspect was seen walking away, covering her face with a hood. Police have launched a manhunt for the suspect.
On Thursday last week, police said they had recovered the clothes the suspect was wearing in Bombolulu village, Kibera.
They also recovered two knives from the scene, which were allegedly used to stab Maigo multiple times on the left side of his chest.
When Ms Lusenga was brought to court, police said they arrested her following a report from a Ms Amina Kamora at Kibra police station that there was a commotion at a neighbour’s house.
Following the report, Mr Boge said a team of police officers from Kilimani visited the scene and found Maigo’s body next to his bed. The officers then secured the scene.
Detectives have recovered clothes believed to have been worn by the main suspect in the murder of Eric Maigo.
The officer said investigations conducted so far have since revealed that the deceased was at home around 6pm when he was attacked by unknown assailants armed with kitchen knives.
He added that detectives who visited the scene recovered the murder weapons.
According to a report lodged with police, Maigo’s neighbours said they heard him moaning in pain and the woman who was in the house refused to open the door.
