Maribe’s fiancé may have tried to kill self, claim police

Detectives dust television journalist Jacque Maribe's car for prints, at Kilimani Police Station in Nairobi on Thursday, September 27, 2018. [David Njaaga,Standard]

Police believe the main suspect in the killing of a woman in an upscale city apartment may have attempted suicide.

Detectives are investigating whether the wound in Joseph Kuria Irungu’s chest was self-inflicted after ruling out his initial claim that he had been shot by assailants.

Police say from what they have gathered, Irungu may have tried to commit suicide on September 20 by shooting himself in the left side of the chest in his fiancé TV journalist Jacque Maribe’s house.

Maribe’s house-help has reportedly told police she heard a bang that night.

Maribe and Irungu had told police they were attacked inside the house but later changed the explanation, saying the said attack happened outside.

Detectives believe the shooting took place in a toilet in the house and that Irungu may have used a piece of clothe to cover the pistol’s nozzle to muffle the sound.

The investigators say a piece of cloth that was not destroyed as Irungu allegedly burnt some items in the compound in which he lived with Maribe is crucial evidence that links him to the scene of crime.

They say Irungu’s conduct on the nights of September 19 and 20 raise questions about his possible role in the murder of Monica Kimani in her apartment off Dennis Pritt Road.

Police sources said besides inconsistent accounts given by Irungu and Maribe, the testimony of their house-help led to their detention.

On September 19, a man dressed in a kanzu visited Monica in her house in Lamuria Apartments. The next day in the afternoon, the 28-year-old woman’s body was found in a bathtub, with her throat slit.

The man in a kanzu has since been identified by witnesses as Irungu. He was positively identified by four witnesses last Tuesday at a police parade as the last man who was seen walking out of Monica’s house.

Investigators claim from Monica’s house, Irungu drove, still dressed in the blood-stained Kanzu, to the house in Langata’s Royal Park estate where Maribe lives.

He took a shower, changed clothes and grabbed the bloodstained clothing alongside some items detectives are yet to establish.

Carrying a matchbox and paraffin, Irungu is then said to have walked out of the house to a far corner within the compound, and burnt the items.

Maribe’s house-help, who was in the house, reportedly corroborated this account during her interrogation. 

Police say a piece of the kanzu that did not burn completely was recovered from the scene.

They have confirmed that it is the same garb Irungu wore on the night he visited Monica.

It is not clear what else Irungu, popularly known as Jowi, burnt, but detectives collected the ashes for further analysis.

After burning the items, Irungu then drove to a club in Westlands where Maribe was.

Maribe had apparently on that Wednesday night left her workplace and driven to the club.

Witnesses said Irungu arrived at the club at about 2.30am in the company of about seven men. He picked Maribe and they went home early on September 20.

Police believe Irungu confided to Maribe what had happened the previous night.

This is the reason they decided to arrest her. She was detained at Gigiri police station after she was interrogated for three days. Maribe was taken back to DCI headquarters where she was being grilled for the fourth day yesterday ahead of her possible arraignment.

False information

Maribe and Irungu are also likely to face charges of giving false information to police.

The two had told police they were attacked inside the house but later changed the explanation, saying the said attack happened outside.

After the alleged suicide bid, they then went to three different hospitals — Nairobi West, Kijabe Mission and Langata Hospital. This was after Irungu reportedly took the weapon to Brian Kasaine Spira, one of their neighbours. Kasaine was arrested on Saturday after police recovered the pistol with 50 bullets in his house.

Three other houses were searched on Friday night. Another house where Irungu used to live in Buruburu was searched too, but nothing was recovered. There, neighbours knew Irungu to be a police officer.

It has since emerged that the pistol belonged to Kasaine. Kasaine, who runs a popular bar in the city, is also expected in court to face various charges.

The search also led to police recovering Irungu’s passport, a cap he was wearing the night Monicah was murdered and other key evidence.

 

The officers believe money was stolen from Monica’s house.

“Money could be at the centre of all this. We believe so and we don’t know how much,” said an official who asked not to be named.

It has emerged that after the macabre murder, the killer or killers dumped Monica’s mobile phones in a jerrycan full of water inside her house.

The mobile phones have been recovered and are being analysed. Monica was buried in Nakuru last Friday.

Director of Criminal Investigations George Kinoti said they had arrested Maribe as an accessory to the murder.

“It seems she knew about all these but all she has been doing is try to cover up for the suspect. We don’t know why,” said Kinoti.

He explained that if one did not have prior knowledge about murder but got to know and tried to assist a suspect by creating an alibi, one would be charged with accessory to murder after the fact.

Maribe told police she never knew Monica. She said she even read the news of the death and discovery of Monica’s body on the night it happened.

Maribe told police Irungu brought a gun to her house and she warned him against taking the weapon there again.