How woman hired hitman for Sh21m to kill businessman over property row

Gun firing. (Courtesy/iStock)

A plot to eliminate a city businessman was aborted after the would-be hitman chickened out of the murder conspiracy whose offer was Sh21 million.

Marvin Omondi Abisalom’s assignment was to execute Antony Maina Mutahi who was embroiled in a property row with Rosemary Muathe.

Marvin was hunted by Winfred Wandia Kisau, a close friend of Rosemary. Marvin was initially given Sh1 million with the promise that he would be paid Sh20 million after accomplishing the mission.

The three held several meetings in the city planning how the murder plot would be executed.

However, at the eleventh hour, Marvin walks out of the evil conspiracy and spilled the beans to Antony, who in turn alerts the police who laid a trap arresting Winfred, who is now facing charges of hiring a hitman.

According to Chief Inspector George Karanja, on diverse dates between July 1, 2024, and August 1, 2024, Winfred conspired with Rosemary to hire Marvin to kill Antony.

“The respondent (Winfred) is the one who introduced Marvin Omondi Abisalom to Rosemary Muathe. Several meetings were held within and outskirts of Nairobi with intent to harmonise an elaborate plan on how the execution of Antony Maina Mutahi would be conducted,” said Karanja.

Token of appreciation

Rosemary was entangled in a court battle over property she had leased, and the same was transferred to Antony. Police believe the property dispute is the reason why Rosemary wanted Antony eliminated.

“Rosemary and Winfred agree to give Sh1 million for execution and thereafter a token of appreciation of Sh20 million would be given after the execution of Antony,” said the senior detective.

Police say the hefty payment was to induce Marvin to clear the job. But on July 28, the hit man backed off and reached out to Antony revealing to the businessman about the murder plot.

The following day, Marvin and Antony agreed to meet at Central Police Station where the former lifted the lid regarding the murder plan. He was interrogated and the matter was recorded under OB 134/29/07/2024.

Meanwhile, the man continued to engage Winfred as detectives laid a trap for her. “And on August 1, 2024, an ambush was laid at Sagret Hotel along Valley Road where Winfred was arrested and booked at Central Police Station vide OB number 153/01/08/2024 at 2326 hours,” Karanja told the court.

During the arrest, Winfred uninstalled her WhatsApp account in a bid to conceal evidence. The detective seized her two mobile phones that have been subjected to cyber forensics to retrieve the deleted chats. The woman was presented in court on August 6, 2024, where she was freed on a Sh200,000 bond pending investigations.

Police had sought to detain her for 14 days since they were yet to record statements from other people linked to the murder conspiracy as well as establishing Winfred’s residence.

Freed on bond

“It is in light of the foregoing that I pray this honourable court to issue custodial orders authorizing holding the respondent in the applicant’s (police) custody for fourteen days to enable the applicant through its investigators to complete the investigation process,” pleaded Karanja before Milimani chief magistrate Bernard Ochoi.

In his ruling, the magistrate ordered the suspect to be freed pending the ongoing investigations after declining the police request to continue holding the suspect for two more weeks. Ochoi also directed the suspect to report to the investigating officer once a week until the probe into the matter is complete.

This is not a unique case. There is no doubt the country is crawling with men who earn a living from murder and are in business because Kenyans are itching to send someone off the face of the earth.

Remember the murder of Winnie Uwambaye Colpits, a Rwandan woman who was engaged to Simon Peter, a Briton insurance executive?

On the morning of April 2013, Winnie was in her apartment on Rhapta Road in Westlands when she received a call summoning her to an urgent official meeting in the city centre.

The 42-year-old woman quickly dressed up and passed through her salon on the way to the Central Business District before walking to the rendezvous at a lodging along Duruma Road. The decomposing body of the seven-and-a-half-month pregnant woman was discovered two days later in a room on the second floor of the building by workers whose suspicions were raised by the foul smell emanating from the room.

Winnie had been strangulated to death. Meanwhile, Simon enlisted the services of private eye Joel Musonye, the head of Almond Private Investigators, who traced the mastermind to Kampala in Uganda.

Amateur hitmen

The suspect was found with Winnie’s missing phone. He would later name six accomplices including a Rwandan woman.

Musonye, a former OCS, said then Winnie’s murder illustrated how easy it is to hire an amateur killer or a professional assassin.  “Kenyans would be shocked by the people involved in these things. But yes, we have hitmen around,” Musonye told The Nairobian.

Five years ago, George Musamali, a former police officer turned security analyst said contracted killings can attract a fee of as little as Sh1,000. He said some of the disillusioned would-be hitmen, with nothing to lose, are more than willing to kill in exchange for meager pay.

“Basically, they are just regular thugs or criminals in informal settlements. In short, they are what I would refer to as amateur hitmen,” said Musamali.

According to Musamali, most of the cold-blood murders witnessed in the country are carried out by amateurs since they do not bear the hallmarks of professional executions akin to that of controversial businessman Jacob Juma.

“The murder of Juma was done by professional assassins who made sure that no trail of evidence was left behind. They cleared the scene by collecting all the spent cartridges, unlike the recent murder of lawyer Robert Chesang, where spent cartridges were recovered, leading to arrests,” explained Musamali.

He said professional hitmen are likely to be from the military, police or trained snipers and that they do a lot of planning before embarking on the job with the brief of eliminating without leaving behind any evidence.

“Given the pattern of killings in Kenya, it is easy to decipher that they are carried out by small-time hitmen. Professional hitmen, who are hard to get, leave no room for glaring mistakes. They are keen on details, including establishing the routine of their targets, as well as identifying the choke points,” added Musamali.

Before taking his own life at Parklands Police Station, self-confessed hitman, David Mwai, claimed he had been hired to kill former Garissa County Finance minister Idris Mukhtar. The initial plan was to kidnap and poison Mukhtar, but the plan took weeks to the chagrin of an impatient paymaster. Mwai was ordered to shoot to kill after receiving a down payment of Sh50,000, part of a Sh500,000 bounty for the job.

He was not familiar with guns and invited his friend only identified as Muchiri to assist in carrying out the mission. The two trailed Mukhtar for a week but failed to get an opportune moment. They reported the difficulties faced to their master, according to detectives.

On August 19, 2018, they received a call to head to Kileleshwa on a motorbike to a mosque where Mukhtar was praying. Mukhtar was shot as he drove from the mosque.