Woman’s mobile account drained after death

A photo of the missing businesswoman Miriam Wangari Kariuki at the Kabete police station notice board.

Investigations into the murder of Nairobi businesswoman Miriam Wangari now point to the possibility she may have been killed for money.

Wangari’s mobile phone was used to transact money days after her dismembered body parts were found in Tigoni.

Investigations by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations Crime Research and Intelligence Bureau confirmed that her phone was used to withdraw cash on more than 10 occasions.

The transactions could not have been made by Wangari as many of them took place after her confirmed date of death - January 1.

Investigations have also revealed that more than Sh100,000 was withdrawn from different mobile money agents in the CBD and Kiambu.

Separately, the investigators have sought the businesswoman’s financial details from banks where she held accounts.

Based on this finding, Kabete DCI officers are confident they will arrest Wangari’s killers.

She was reported missing at the Kabete Police Station on December 31 last year.

Wangari, 57, went missing after visiting a construction site in the Thamanda area in Zambezi, Kiambu, on December 29.

Last week, detectives probing her disappearance and murder arrested a man who worked as a driver for the family.

A signal of the presumably lost mobile phone belonging to Wangari led the police to a hardware shop she owned.

Police said the suspect, 45-year-old James Mbugua, could not explain how he acquired the mobile phone registered to the businesswoman.

Yesterday, Dagoretti DCI chief Patrick Gikunda told Sunday Standard that the investigators had widened their scope to include business rivalry.

“The investigations are now at an advanced stage. We are conducting forensic analysis on the mobile phone for more clues,” Gikunda said.

He added that the police and Wangari’s family are still searching for her missing body parts.

So far, only a pair of arms and legs, which have been confirmed to be those of Wangari, have been recovered.

Tigoni police on January 1 recovered the dismembered limbs, which appeared fresh.

The recovered body parts were found at Karanjee area in Tigoni more than 30km from where Wangari was last seen alive.

So far, Kabete DCI officers say the family driver found with Wangari’s phone is helping them with information that could aid the investigation.

Mbugua was presented before a Kibera court where the police were granted 21 days to hold him.

Wangari’s family was in shock to learn that the suspect in police custody was their driver Mbugua, who had worked for them for many years.