Puzzle of ‘pastor’ in murder of Karume grandson’s girlfriend

Police have arrested Mr Christopher Kiptum Keter, 50, who claims to be a church elder, over the killing of Christine Makena Maingi who was found dead on February 8 in Gatongora, Ruiru, Kiambu County.

Investigations have now shown that Makena was strangled.

Also summoned and released by police after questioning is a grandson of former Cabinet minister Njenga Karume, after call data from Makena’s phone showed he was in constant communication with her late last year.

Karume’s grandson, whose identity police did not wish to disclose, told police yesterday that Makena was his girlfriend.

“Yes, we summoned the grandson of Njenga Karume for interrogation, who has openly told us that the deceased was his girlfriend and she last visited him on December 19 last year. He is a person of interest but we have found nothing so far to incriminate him in the murder, that is why I am not comfortable disclosing his name,” a detective conversant with the investigation told the Nation yesterday.

Makena, 36, lived in her parents’ house in Gatongora. Her parents live in Meru, with business interests in Dubai.

Read: Identity of woman's body found in suitcase in Ruiru unmasked

Family members and police sources yesterday said that Makena operated a barbershop in Kasarani, Nairobi. She was buried on February 18.

Lost contact

Karume’s grandson told police that between February 5 and 6 this year, he lost contact with Makena. He was surprised when she would pick up his calls but disconnected almost immediately, with a promise to call back. That was unusual, and he was worried, he said, especially because they had had no disagreements.

Police believe Makena was killed between February 6 and 7 since her body had started to decompose when it was found. 

Detectives handling the case, however, stumbled upon crucial leads on what transpired along the way when Makena left Mombasa on December 19. She used a public vehicle in which Mr Keter, now the prime suspect, was also travelling in. 

Mr Keter introduced himself as a pastor. They exchanged contacts and later met up after arriving in Nairobi, Mr Keter told police as he denied killing the woman. 

Read: Love gone sour: Kilifi man jailed for 30 years for murder

A relative told police and family members that a few days before she died, he visited Makena in Gatongora after he noticed that she had cut communication with the family. He said he found Makena with Mr Keter, whom he easily identified in CCTV camera footage in which a man is seen walking in and out of Makena’s house the day she is suspected to have been killed. The man in the footage can be seen trying to hide his face.

Mr Keter has told police that on February 6, Makena called him to pray for her in the house. He insisted he was only there on February 6, when he slept at the house, before leaving the next morning. Phone data shows that Mr Keter then went to Mombasa, Kwale, Tana River and back to Nairobi.

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“He has told us that in all these movements, he was going to preach, and we strongly believe that he played a key role in the killing of the deceased,” Ruiru Directorate of Criminal Investigations Officer Justus Ombati said in an interview yesterday.

Police said that before Makena was killed, she “donated” some of her household items to Mr Keter, who had allegedly asked Makena to use the taxi-hailing app Uber to have the household items delivered to his house in Mukuru Kwa Njenga. It is the Uber driver who led police to Mr Keter on Tuesday.

Police believe the pastor's title is fake, and that Mr Keter uses it to lure his targets and steal from them. They now want to charge him in court with murder.