Four detained for 14 days in probe on murder, robberies

A Mombasa court has allowed police to detain four men for 14 days over robbing an American national of over Sh300,000 and his accessories on April 12, this year.

The four, Bernard Mbusu, Isaac Kobia, Evan Mutaki and Kelvin Njoroge, are also being investigated over the death of a British national and a series of robberies across Mombasa, Kilifi, Kwale and Nairobi counties.

Yesterday, Shanzu Chief Magistrate Antony Mwicigi allowed the Director of Criminal Investigations (DCI) to detain the four at Kazandani Police station pending completion of investigations.

It is alleged that the four robbed the American national yet to be identified of Sh345,300, a Samsung Galaxy phone, a laptop and other accessories from an apartment in Nyali, Mombasa County, where he had booked to spend a night.

Sergeant Fredrick Ochido had sought to detain the four for 15 days to conclude investigations into a series of robberies in Watamu, Kilifi County, Nairobi, Mombasa and Kwale County.

The officer told the magistrate that the four were arrested at Ideal Apartments, Ukunda town in Kwale County on April 11 2026, after committing murder and robbery with violence in Watamu, Mombasa and Kilifi counties.

“The respondents are suspected to have committed robbery with violence at Watamu, Kilifi County, murder at Parklands Police Station, Nairobi County and robbery with violence at Mombasa County,” said Ochido.

According to the American who was robbed on April 9 2026, at the wee hours of 13:05 am at Mamba Village, Mombasa County, he met with a man called Alex, who promised to help him get a place to sleep.

The American said that he was picked up by a driver and dropped off around the Quickmart area in Nyali by the name of Startup, where he was booked in a two-bedroom apartment on the second floor.

He said after taking a shower, he retired to sleep, only to be woken by a group of six men who tortured him for hours and stole all his items.

“They stole Sh14,000, Sh180,600 (1400 UDS), Sh60,400 (400 Euros) and other foreign currencies amounting to Sh12,900 (100 USD). They also stole a laptop, a cell phone, and a Samsung Galaxy. Later, the suspects swiped Sh206,400 (1600 USD), a Hungarian debit card holding Sh51,600 (400 UDS) and assorted personal items,” said the American in the police report.

Ochido applied to forward the suspects' phones for forensic analysis in Nairobi to obtain their call data records, Mpesa statements and bank account statements to assist with investigations.

He said that he requires time to apply for the CCTV footage from the scene of the incidents and various banks’ ATMs where the respondents made withdrawals using the American ATM cards and have the same forensically processed.

Ochido said that the complainant, an American national residing in Nairobi County, has yet to participate in an identification parade and also identify the recovered stolen items.

The officer said that the time elapsed since the arrest of the four suspects will not be sufficient to make any determination, therefore necessitating an application for time to complete the investigations before deciding on whether to charge the suspects.