Three gunshots killed Embakasi butcher caught in middle of fight – postmortem

A butcher unwittingly caught in the middle of a fight between two men at Kitindo area in Embakasi, Nairobi, was killed by three gunshots, a postmortem report has revealed.

According to an autopsy report released on Thursday, 52-year-old Charles Kurugu suffered multiple injuries to his chest, abdomen, lower vertebrae and upper limbs that led to his death on Sunday night.

Police officers have arrested a constable in connection with the murder after Kurugu's family called for justice.

“I want justice for my family and my husband, who I loved with my whole heart. I’m hurt and his children have been crying since his death," Muthoni Maina said after witnessing her husband's postmortem at City Mortuary.

Kurugu's body was moved to the Mary Immaculate Hospital mortuary in Mwiga, Nyeri. He will be buried in Laikipia East once his family completes burial preparations.

According to eyewitnesses, the police officer arrested for Kurugu's murder was arguing with an unidentified man over a woman. The officer had been accused of courting the other man's wife while he was in Somalia.

"I was inside the butchery, but I heard the two men arguing. As the argument got more heated, Kurugu, who had been serving customers, stepped outside to see what was happening," an employee at the butchery told The Standard.

"He came face to face with the police officer, who was holding an AK-47. Kurugu rushed back into the butchery, banging the door closed. Seconds later, however, bullets were sprayed into the butchery's mabati walls and they hit Kurugu. The last thing I remember him saying was 'they have killed me'.

Kurugu died en route to Mama Lucy Kibaki Hospital.

The constable was arraigned at the Makadara Law Courts yesterday where detectives requested 14 days to investigate the case.