Court told the late Samuel Wanjiru was hit with blunt object

Two top government pathologists have concurred that 2008 Beijing Olympics marathon champion, Samuel Kamau Wanjiru, was hit with a blunt object before he died at his Nyahururu residence 10 years ago, a court heard Monday.

Mr Isaac Onyango, a senior crime detective at the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), told Milimani Law Court Chief Magistrate Francis Andayi that two pathologists, Dr Moses Njue and Dr Emily Rogena, agreed “Wanjiru was hit at the back of his head with a blunt object before his death.”

“According to the investigations which you conducted what was the cause of death,” lawyer Uvyu Muendo, acting for Wanjiru’s mother, asked Mr Onyango.

“The cause of death was as a result of injuries inflicted by a blunt object at the back of his head,” Mr Onyango replied. 

While examining the body of the former international athlete, Mr Onyango said the two top pathologists agreed that “the bruises on the palms and knees were minor.”

He said injuries on the head of deceased resulted from a blunt object as opposed to the claim that he fell from the balcony of his one-story building in Nyahururu on May 15 2011.

While testifying in the inquest to establish the cause of Wanjiru’s death, Mr Onyango said Wanjiru was reported to have jumped to his death while following his wife Treiza Njeri who had locked the grill leading to their upstairs bedroom of their matrimonial home then left.

Mr Andayi heard Ms Njeri had found her late husband with another woman in their bedroom then locked the grill at the door then walked out and called Nyahururu OCPD to report the incident.

Led in his evidence by state prosecutor Angela Fuchaka, Mr Onyango said the athlete reached the balcony then jumped while attempting to reach out to his wife.

He said a watchman manning the gate told them Wanjiru fell from the balcony but the officer said given the weight of the athlete, he  could not have fatally injured himself from the fall.

The magistrate heard Njeri did not heed her husbands’ frantic calls but went away.

The senior crime buster said the grill to the bedroom of Wanjiru was broken by the deputy OCPD Mr Kanake from where they also carted away a Safe from where an unknown amount of Canadian and US Dollars were recovered.

Mr Onyango said the deceased had been charged before a Nyahururu court with threatening to kill his wife Njeri and Mr William Masinde Muholi in 2010.

He also faced a third count of being in possession of a firearm. By the time of his demise the attempted murder charges had been withdrawn leaving the firearms case. The hearing continues.