Shock, fury as elderly woman’s body found buried in Kabete garage

A resident of Kabete in Nairobi looks in disbelief at a house where a son Geoffrey Mathenge is suspected to have murdered his mother and buried her remains in the house garage. He confessed after he was arrested by Kikuyu police after a search for the missing mother Rose Njoki yielded no fruits. (PHOTO: JENIPHER WACHIE/ SATNDARD)

Police in Kabete are holding a 37-year-old man who allegedly killed his elderly mother at Muthure Village, Kiambu County.

The body of the 63-year-old woman -Rose Njoki - who was reported missing a week ago, was exhumed yesterday from her house garage, where the suspect buried it after allegedly killing her following a domestic row.

Area Chief James Gitau told The Standard on Sunday that the suspect was arrested on Friday evening after he gave conflicting accounts concerning the where-about of his mother.

Catherine Mumbi a daughter of the deceased, said they grew suspicious after her mother failed to attend a funeral of their uncle. She was also unavailable on her phone since the start of the week.

Exhumed body

“We confronted my brother who stayed alone with her and he explained that she had left to an unknown place. It was strange because our mother never went anywhere without informing me,” said Mumbi.
She alerted the chief and security agents about the disappearance of her mother and her brother was arrested after a search in the home revealed that he had dug a hole in the garage.

“He admitted that he had buried her in the hole. He even threatened to kill me as he was being whisked away,” said a shaken Mumbi.
Angry neigbours camped outside the deceased’s homestead from Friday evening trying to get a glimpse of the crime scene. Police have been manning the gate to bar residents to ensure residents do not enter and tamper with evidence at the scene of crime. Before the body could be exhumed, the police had to wait for a  court order.

Muthuri Villagers of Kabete county at a house where a 63-year-old woman was allegedly murdered by her son Geoffrey Mathenge and her remains buried in the house garage.  Police later in the evening exhumed and took the body to the mortuary.  (PHOTO: JENIPHER WACHIE/ STANDARD)

At some point, the public, including the area MP Ferdinand Waititu got impatient as they waited for over eight hours for the important document to arrive from Thika town.
“This is a shocking incident. It is sad that the suspect was even in the past linked to another killing but he was set free. It should be a lesson that anyone with a murder case should not be let scot-free,” said Waititu. The body was taken to City Mortuary.