I found a woman at home, Wanjiru widow tells probe

The widow of famed marathoner Samuel Wanjiru on Wednesday tearfully narrated their last encounter before she was informed that he had leapt to his death.

Ms Terezah Njeri Kamau told an inquest investigating the death of Wanjiru she had spent the fateful day with his cousin James Maina Mara and one of his drivers.

She then left Mr Mara’s home at around 10.30 pm and was dropped home at Muthaiga Estate, Nyahururu in Nyandarua County, in one of her husband’s vehicles.

At the gate, Ms Kamau recalled, she noticed a vehicle belonging to her husband’s manager parked in the compound.

The 29-year-old woman said she did not proceed to the main house immediately but went to the servants’ quarters to get a cup of tea.

She then entered the house and went straight to the master bedroom upstairs.

STRANGER

“The lights were on and I found my husband sleeping,” Ms Kamau told the inquest. “Beside him was a woman I didn’t know.”

And when she asked the stranger who she was, the woman allegedly told her that she was also Wanjiru’s wife, Ms Kamau narrated.

“She attempted to grab my neck but I stormed out of the house, locking them inside the bedroom,” said Ms Kamau.

Once outside, Ms Kamau said, she called the Nyahururu police boss informing him that Mr Wanjiru had brought a woman to their matrimonial home.

Asked by the prosecutor, Ms Catherine Mwaniki, why she called the police, Ms Kamau said about a year earlier Wanjiru had threatened to shoot her after she confronted him.

DRUNK

She said he had arrived home late and drunk and, instead of going to their bedroom, locked himself inside the housegirl’s room. The girl was asleep inside.

The mother of two said she also called Mr Mara informing him of the incident and he promised to come over.

But while she was still talking to Mr Mara on the telephone, Wanjiru appeared on the balcony and ordered her to open the door.

“I told him to wait for the police, who were on the way,” said Ms Kamau. “But he threatened to jump and swore that I would be in trouble if I did not open the door.”

She ran to a nearby school but guards refused to open the gate and she walked to Mr Mara’s home.

“I arrived there only to be told by his wife that he had gone to my house,” said Ms Kamau.

JUMPED

Moments later, Mr Mara called informing her that Wanjiru had jumped from the balcony and was in serious condition.

Police on patrol had also arrived at their home and were trying to save him before they took him to hospital.

The police later called Ms Kamau telling her to go to Nyahururu Police Station. From there, they headed to their Muthaiga home and took photos at the scene.

The widow said she noticed a pool of blood where Wanjiru landed.

In the morning, she was informed that Wanjiru had died, said Ms Kamau, who had to be given time to compose herself. She saw his body at around midday on May 16, 2011.

At the mortuary, her mother-in-law, Ms Hannah Wanjiru, accused her of hitting Wanjiru with a metal bar.

A blouse Ms Kamau said the strange woman left in their bedroom was produced in court.

The hearing continues.