Dandora cousins Rahab and Abigael Gathoni did not die of poisoning as earlier reported

The two female cousins who died in Dandora, Nairobi on March 29 over alleged poisoning were actually suffocated, postmortem reveals.

Earlier reports had suggested that Rahab Gathoni and her cousin Abigael Gathoni had been given food laced with poison.

Rahab’s husband, Sebastian Kamande, 28, had been arrested in connection with the relatives’ deaths.

A postmortem conducted by Chief Government Pathologist Dr Johansen Oduor at the City Mortuary on Friday, April 8, indicates that the Gathonis were smothered.

Smothering refers to killing someone by covering their nose and mouth so that they suffocate.

Dr. Oduor, however, said that samples were taken from the two cousins for further toxicological examination.

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This, he said, would help establish whether there were any poison traces in their bodies as investigations by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations had suggested.

Buruburu DCI officer Jackson Muriuki told The Standard that the postmortem now points to the possibility that the cousins’ killer(s) could have used bare hands or a pillow to suffocate the victims.

Abigael also had strangulation marks on her neck, the autopsy revealed.

Rahab’s husband, Sebastian Kamande, is in custody as investigations into the relatives’ deaths continue.

The cousins’ bodies were found in Rahab’s Dandora Phase 1 home on March 29 night.

Police said there were indications that Kamande was at the murder scene hours before the bodies of Rahab and Abigael were retrieved at 8:30pm.

The suspect was arrested on April 1 upon returning to Nairobi from Embu.

Buruburu DCI boss Jackson Muriuki said investigations indicated that Kamande and Rahab had been undergoing turbulence in their marriage.