From booze to sex and Sh50,000 deadly fight: Inside Starlet Wahu's last night

John Matara is accused of murdering Scarlet in a Airbnb in Nairobi.

A woman known for her glamorous social life, a brother who preaches the gospel and a mother left with a painful loss, socialite Starlet Wahu’s story has taken another dramatic turn in court.

Nearly three years after her death shocked Nairobi, the man accused of killing the socialite has finally offered a detailed account of their final encounter, describing a night of intimacy, whisky, a bitter payment dispute and a bloody confrontation he claims nearly cost him his life.

John Matara, who is facing a murder charge over Wahu’s death, told the High Court that what began as an arrangement between two adults who had met through an online escort advertisement descended into a violent struggle inside a short-stay apartment in South B.

In a startling twist, Matara, who is a musician, claimed that Wahu turned on him with a knife after demanding Sh50,000, comprising Sh35,000 for their latest encounter and Sh15,000 he allegedly owed her from a previous meeting.

He told Justice Alexander Muteti that on the fateful night, he sent her Sh20,000 through M-Pesa and promised to settle the remaining Sh30,000 the following morning, but the disagreement escalated into what he described as a desperate fight for survival.

“I never at any moment that night handled that knife. I was defenceless and she had overpowered me,” he told the court.

The account marks a significant moment in a case that has kept Wahu’s final hours under intense public scrutiny since the death hit headlines in January 2024, with Matara now seeking to challenge the prosecution’s evidence and explain the injuries he claims he sustained during the encounter.

But behind the courtroom battle is a family whose private grief became public following the death of a daughter and sister whose name had become familiar to Kenyans through social media and the entertainment scene.

 Wahu was not just the socialite whose death made headlines in January 2024. She was also a daughter, a sister and a member of a family whose public identity was closely associated with Christian ministry.

Her elder brother, preacher Victor Kanyari, became one of the most visible family members following the tragedy. Known for his church ministry, Kanyari spoke publicly about the loss, revealing the emotional toll it had taken on their family.

Their mother, Lucy Nduta, also faced the painful reality of losing a daughter under circumstances that would become the subject of a lengthy criminal investigation and a closely followed court case.

For the family, the questions surrounding Wahu’s final hours have played out in public, with investigators, witnesses and lawyers reconstructing what happened inside the apartment where her body was discovered in a pool of blood.

Wahu had built a social media presence around her lifestyle and glamorous image. Yet the circumstances of her death shifted the public conversation from her online persona to the criminal proceedings seeking to establish how she died and who was responsible.

The trial has since become a contest between the prosecution’s reconstruction of the fatal encounter and the accused man’s version of events.

At the centre of the case are competing accounts of a fatal confrontation, a disputed payment, a bloodied towel, forensic evidence of a used condom, HIV test kits, unknown medicine in a sachet, a syringe and a family still struggling with the loss of a daughter and sister.

Online sex advertisement

Matara told the court that he first came across Wahu’s advertisement on bedescorts.com, a website where sex workers advertise their services, around July or August 2023. He said he was attracted by her photographs and contacted her through the WhatsApp telephone number provided in the advertisement.

“I contacted her through WhatsApp and she sent me her nude photos as it is the norm with online prostitution,” he testified.

According to Matara, Wahu quoted Sh35,000 for an overnight sexual encounter. They agreed to meet at Sankara Hotel in Westlands, where they drank, got intimate and spent the night together.

“We had fun, we had sex and we parted ways the following day,” he told the court, adding that he paid her the agreed Sh35,000.

The two allegedly met again at the same hotel in December 2023. This time, he said, he paid Sh20,000, leaving an outstanding balance of Sh15,000.

Matara claimed they continued communicating and became increasingly fond of each other.

He said he promised to clear the balance during their next encounter. That outstanding amount would become a central feature of his defence.

Matara testified that he contacted Wahu on January 1, 2024, and they agreed to meet two days later.

He said he had been at a music studio in Imara Daima, recording music and celebrating the New Year with fellow artists.

At around 11am on January 3, he contacted Wahu to confirm their plans. She allegedly suggested they meet in South B, where she expected to be later that evening after spending time with friends.

He claimed she reminded him of the Sh15,000 balance and asked him to book accommodation with a balcony. At about 5pm, Matara said he left the studio with another artist and headed towards the city centre.

While travelling, he searched for accommodation on Jiji.co.ke and found an apartment advertised by a woman identified as Jane, who runs Airbnb apartments in the South B area.

Jane, who testified as a prosecution witness, sent him photographs of the available accommodation. He settled on a unit costing Sh3,200 for the night.

After a brief meeting with a friend at the Hilton for a business deal, he ordered an Uber to South B. He told the court that he reached Papino Apartments, contacted Jane and was directed to room Y32 on the fourth floor.

The fatal date

Matara said that upon arrival he did not record his personal details at the security desk at the ground floor, claiming the office was unattended.

He later proceeded to the room where he found two women whom he described as cleaners and showed him the bedroom, bathroom, living room and balcony.

After the cleaners left, Matara said he put on loud music and relaxed on the couch as he texted Wahu on WhatsApp. At 8pm, he received a call from Wahu, who informed him that she had arrived at the parking area.

ALSO READ: Inside John Matara and Starlet Wahu's Sh50,000 deadly fight

He went downstairs, found her in a red Uber and paid the Sh300 fare and opened the car door for her. “She looked very beautiful as she wore a red miniskirt and heels,” Matara told Justice Muteti. He revealed that before heading to the room, they decided to buy a 750ml bottle of Hunters Choice whisky and returned to the apartment.

Matara told the court that he and Wahu hugged and kissed after entering the apartment before becoming intimate. “We hugged, kissed, she told me she had missed me, I told her I had missed her more,” he said.

Minutes later, Wahu told him that she wanted to make a few WhatsApp video calls to friends while they were naked, prompting him to bring her a towel to cover herself from her breast area downwards. He also testified that they had previously recorded intimate moments and that, during their final encounter, Wahu asked him to place his phone near the entrance door in a position where it could record them.

Matara told the court that they took HIV tests before having sex, with both testing negative. He claimed Wahu initially preferred not to use condoms, but he insisted on protection. Investigators recovered a used HIV testing kit, condoms, a towel and a bloodstained knife suspected to be the murder weapon, hidden behind the sofa.

Afterwards, he said, they moved to the bedroom, continued drinking and later watched a recording of their encounter on television.

Minutes later, the mood changed when Wahu said she wanted to leave and demanded full payment.

Matara said Wahu demanded Sh50,000, being the Sh35,000 for that night’s encounter and the outstanding Sh15,000 from their previous meeting in Westlands.

Payment conflict

He claimed she became angry when he explained that he could not immediately pay the entire amount. In his account, Wahu hurled insults at him and threatened that neither of them would leave the room alive unless he paid.

He said he sent her Sh20,000 through M-Pesa and promised to clear the remaining Sh30,000 the following morning. Matara told the court he expected to receive Sh100,000 for work he had done as a co-developer of web design project and believed he would have enough money to settle the balance.

But he claimed Wahu was unconvinced. He then called his sister, Deborah, asking for a Sh30,000 soft loan. According to his testimony, she declined and hung up on him.

Matara said he continued pleading with Wahu before the dispute appeared to calm down and they resumed drinking their whiskey.

He later went to the bathroom. What happened after he returned to the bedroom forms the most dramatic part of his defence. Matara found Wahu standing between the bed and the wardrobe. He claimed he approached her intending to hug her, but she pushed him onto the bed.

He initially thought they were about to have sex again before suddenly feeling sharp pains in his thighs. “There was Starlet, standing, panting. She was stabbing me multiple times,” claimed the accused.

ALSO READ: Of a used condom, blood-stained towel and knife: Inside Scarlet Wahu's deadly scuffle

Matara said he curled up to shield himself as the alleged attack continued, eventually falling to the floor. He claimed he tried to grab the knife but sustained cuts to his palms as it was pulled through his hands. “I was bleeding profusely...there was blood all over,” he testified.

He claimed he slipped past Wahu and fled into the living room, where she allegedly chased him around a table.

Matara said loud music made it difficult for anyone outside to hear his cries for help. He denied handling the knife recovered by investigators.

“I never at any moment that night handled that knife. I was defenceless and she had overpowered me,” he said.

The court heard that he left the apartment at around 10pm, wearing a soaked towel before putting on his clothes outside the room. He claimed Wahu was still screaming and hurling insults as he escaped down the stairs from the fourth to the third floor, then took a lift to the ground floor.

He said several boda boda riders declined to take him to hospital after he claimed he had been attacked by thugs. A third rider, accompanied by a colleague, eventually stopped and rushed him to a nearby hospital.

“I lied that I was beaten by thugs. They rushed me to a nearby hospital, where I collapsed at the main entrance due to loss of blood,” Matara said.

He said he remained shocked that Wahu died during the encounter.“I can’t really tell what happened...especially when I was struggling for my life. I’m still shocked to date that Wahu died as a result of that scuffle...I did not kill Starlet Wahu,” he testified.

The contrast

Matara’s defence account sharply contrasts with the prosecution’s case, which linked him to Wahu’s fatal stabbing through witness testimony, forensic findings and an alleged confession to an arresting officer. The prosecution called 18 witnesses before Justice Alexander Muteti ruled in May 2026 that Matara had a case to answer.

Investigating officer Sergeant Alex Chokera told the court police were alerted to a suspected murder at the apartment in the early hours of January 4, 2024. Officers found Wahu’s body inside the Airbnb, squatting against the entrance door. Investigators recovered a kitchen knife, mobile phones, a bloodstained towel, condoms and a used HIV testing kit.

Security guard Joseph Ndung’u testified that he saw a man leaving the apartments with a white towel around his neck and bloodstains on his trousers. He alerted another guard, Gitau, and they reviewed CCTV footage, which reportedly showed the man leaving the fourth floor. Investigators later traced bloodstains to Room Y32, where Wahu’s body was found.

Pathologist Dr Peter Ndegwa, who conducted a post-mortem on January 5, 2024, said Wahu had multiple injuries, including fingernail marks on her neck, a stab wound to her right thigh and internal bleeding on the right side of her head. He attributed her death to severe haemorrhage and trauma associated with strangulation.

The prosecution said forensic findings linked biological material from both Wahu and Matara to exhibits recovered at the apartment.

Witness Antony Wafula testified that he helped arrange Matara’s transfer to Mbagathi Hospital after finding him injured at South B Hospital.

Arresting officer Corporal Horace Arwa told the court Matara allegedly admitted to stabbing Wahu in the thigh while receiving treatment. Matara denies killing her.