Police given 14 days to hold suspect in murder of Faith Musembi

First-year student Faith Musembi. [Courtesy]

Thika Law Courts has allowed police application to hold the prime suspect in the murder of a university student.

David Kioko Wambua appeared before Thika Chief Magistrate Phillip Mutua on Tuesday, where Investigating Officer Oscar Limo sought permission to hold him for 21 days to complete investigations.

Kioko is accused of allegedly murdering Faith Musembi, a 19-year-old first-year student at Mount Kenya University in Pilot Estate, on May 8.

During the application, Inspector Oscar Limo told the court that the officers required time to conduct another autopsy to gather more samples to confirm the pregnancy and DNA test.

An autopsy conducted at Thika General Kago Funeral Home On Saturday, May 11, showed that Musembi succumbed due to excessive bleeding. The report indicated that she had bleeding in the uterus caused by abruptial placenta (the placenta had detached itself leading to excessive bleeding).

Limo said the suspect would undergo a mental assessment and witness statements would be recorded.

”We are still in the process of recovering the deceased's mobile phone, which will subsequently undergo forensic analysis. There is a need to finalise the investigations and compile a comprehensive report for submission to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions,” he said.

Magistrate Kioko granted the application, acknowledging the public interest in the matter.

However, he stipulated that the suspect would be detained at Thika police station for 14 days. The case is scheduled for mention on May 28, 2014.

Earlier, Thika West Sub-County Police Commander Lawrence Muchangi informed journalists that the suspect, a student at Tom Mboya University, was the deceased's boyfriend, and they had been together for six years.

He suspects that infidelity may have been the motive behind the murder.

“The suspect and the victim were known to each other's families, hailing from the same area in Machakos. Investigations revealed that the conflict leading to the girl's demise stemmed from suspected infidelity on her part,” Muchangi said.

The police boss said the suspect alleged that the deceased had affairs with four other men. "The suspect decided to eliminate the girl due to frustrations that she had other boyfriends," he said.

Wambua had allegedly demanded ransom from the girl’s parents and even sent them threatening messages.

Some of the messages that the suspect sent using the deceased’s phone read; “Can you tell the mother to cooperate and have her daughter back or she dies with her unborn child."

The mother replied, “I command and speak protection upon her in the mighty name of Jesus.

The kidnapper replied, “Amen, fail to send the money and your command will be mere words."

The deceased, according to his relatives, was about eight months pregnant.

Joseph Kinaka, the girl's uncle said that he texted the Musembi on WhatsApp on Thursday morning and received a response demanding a ransom of Sh33,000 or the girl be killed.

Kinaka noted that after engaging the individual who had the phone, he sent him a photo of the student. However, on examining the photo closely, he saw blood oozing from Musembi's nose and she had bit her tongue.

He said that he confronted the individual who allegedly admitted to having killed the girl. The girl’s phone when tracked was found to be in Nairobi town.