Tender row linked to murder of Caroline Wanjiku

A multimillion-shilling tender for the construction of walkways is at the heart of investigations on the kidnapping, torture and killing of businesswoman Caroline Wanjiku Maina, whose body was found by herders in Kajiado county two weeks ago.

While detectives believe the former banker was abducted by her business partners, it is still not clear who of the four suspects murdered Wanjiku and where the killing took place.

Placing a suspect at the scene of the crime and knowing the motive are important in getting a conviction in the event of the prosecution lacking direct witnesses.

Body found

Wanjiku’s decomposing body was found on February 16, four days after her family found out that she had gone missing, hours after she was said to have been duped by one of the suspects to meet him for a business deal.

Mr Edwin Otieno Odiwuor, Mr Samwel Okoth Adinda, Mr Stevenson Oduor Ouma and Ms Mercy Gitiri Mongo were arrested and ordered to remain in custody for 10 days to give police time to complete investigations into the killing.

The 10 days elapsed yesterday, but none of four was charged.

Police bond

Instead, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) asked Kibera Senior Principal Magistrate Esther Boke to release Mr Oduor and Ms Mongo on a police bond.

This was after their lawyers Shadrack Mwinzi and Cliff Ombeta argued that the State had no compelling reasons to continue holding them.

“I request this court to allow our clients to be represented by their counsel when they are required,” Mr Mwinzi said.

The State asked to be allowed to hold Mr Otieno and Mr Okoth for 10 more days as it concludes investigations into the killing, a request which was granted.

“The investigations are not complete as we need to record more statements from witnesses,” DCI detective Earnest Kinyua said in a sworn affidavit.

“Police need time to get a report from the Integrated, Control and Communication Centre also known as the IC3 system and CCTV footage from the bank where the victim was last seen. We also need to get details of her bank accounts.”

The IC3 is a system of cameras installed on major roads in Nairobi and Mombasa to help police to identify and fight crime.

The system’s Automatic Number Plate Recognition cameras can trace the movement of a vehicle. It helps police track stolen cars and solve complex crimes.

For this particular case, investigators are interested in the movements of a silver Toyota Axion registration number KCY 499W belonging to Wanjiku, which was found at the gate of Gatina Primary School, Kawangware, on February 13.

Police are also interested in the movement of a black Toyota Crown KCN 300D belonging to Mr Otieno.

The saloon is said to have picked the victim from Ngara estate on February 12, the day she vanished.

Additionally, police want to trace the movements of a white Mercedes Benz E350 registration number KCW 179G belonging to Mr Okoth.

Investigators told the Nation that they believe the car was used to dump Wanjiku’s body at a thicket in Paranai, Kajiado county.

While the police initially said the four suspects were in the Toyota Crown in Ngara and were involved in the kidnapping, the release of Ms Mongo and Mr Oduor could be an indicator of the investigations taking a different direction.

Police rarely release a murder suspect on bond unless they believe they are not directly involved in the crime or if they plan to use them as prosecution witnesses.

Mr Otieno and Mr Okoth will most likely be charged with the kidnapping, torture and killing of the businesswoman.

“We shall arraign them for murder,” DCI boss George Kinoti told the Nation yesterday.

“We are attempting to place them at the scene of the crime using forensic technology. This will form strong evidence that cannot be tampered with in case they are given bond before we file the charges.”

A forensic sweep has been done on the three cars.

Police want to trace any DNA samples that will match those to be collected from the main suspects and the murdered woman.

Additionally, detectives are analysing data from the victim’s phones and those belonging to the suspects to find out if there were any disputes between them that could have led to the killing.

Still, a few questions remain unanswered.

Where did Wanjiku meet her death since it is apparent that she was not killed in Paranai? Why was she killed? Where is the murder weapon?

Though the victim is believed to have been kidnapped using Mr Otieno’s Toyota Crown, the two main suspects say the Mercedes Benz was used to transport the body to the dumping site.

It is, however, not known who drove Wanjiku’s car to Kawangware.

Investigators told the Saturday Nation that the businesswoman’s vehicle was found when her relatives asked a tracking company to trace it. Once the car was found, a man identified as Isaiah Mungeria reported the matter to Muthangari police station.

The case was then taken over by DCI Nairobi Area Crime Research and Intelligence Bureau (CRIB), which started tracking the last people who communicated with Wanjiku by phone prior to her disappearance.

The first to be arrested was Mr Otieno. Police say he lured Wanjiku to Ngara on the pretext that he would assist her get shares for a sacco.

In between making calls to Wanjiku, Mr Otieno also made a number of calls to Mr Okoth, Mr Oduor and Ms Gitiri.

The phones belonging to the suspects were triangulated as having been around Ngara on the day Wanjiku vanished.

Triangulation is a technique used by investigators to track a phone’s geographical location by measuring the time delay that a signal takes to return to the nearest transmission tower.

On being arrested Mr Otieno and Mr Okoth took police officers to where the body had been dumped.

According to a postmortem conducted on Wednesday evening, Wanjiku died from head and back injuries.

She also had bruises on her hip and hands.

With police having in their custody two people considered to be the prime suspects in the murder, focus has shifted to establishing why exactly the crime was committed.

People aware of Wanjiku’s dealings say she was not good at settling debts and appeared to owe everyone around her some money.

After quitting her job at a bank, Wanjiku briefly operated a salon at China Town in Hurlingham, Nairobi.

“She had issues with paying her staff, suppliers and the landlord. Wanjiku was later kicked out after falling out with everybody,” a person who knew her told the Nation.

“Very few people trusted her. Those who did lost their money.”

Following the death of the hairdressing business, she ventured into real estate and attempted to get into the lucrative world of government tenders.

With no money, Wanjiku formed a company with the four people believed to have killed her, one of them being her boyfriend.

The company, whose name we cannot publish since its structure and finances are being investigated, received Sh20 million from a county government in the days leading to Wanjiku’s disappearance.

The money was payment for construction of sidewalks.

On interrogation the suspects told police that after receiving the money, there was a dispute on how it would be split.

Wanjiku being the bank signatory, refused to part with what the others thought rightfully belonged to them.

Wanjiku is said to have insisted that she deserved more because it was through her efforts that the company won the tender.

On the day she disappeared she had withdrawn Sh350,000 from Co-operative Bank which she intended to give to Mr Otieno.

It turned out to be her last business transaction. The matter will come up for hearing on March 8.

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