Court told of strange ‘come help me sleep’ text from Monica Kimani’s phone

Monica Kimani who died on the night of September 18, 2018. [File, Standard]

A witness in the Monica Kimani murder case told the Milimani Law Courts on Tuesday that he received a “strange” message from the businesswoman on the night she died on September 18, 2018.

Anthony Kariuki told Justice Grace Nzioka that Monica, whom he’d known for less than a month, sent him the “strange” message, much to his surprise.

“Come and help me sleep,” read the text message sent to Kariuki from Monica Kimani’s Kenyan cellphone line at 11pm.

Kariuki was put to task by prime suspect Joseph Irungu’s lawyer, Hassan Nandwa, to explain the nature of his relationship with Kimani.

According to Kariuki, he and Kimani were “just friends”, and that he found it strange when the businesswoman asked him to go and spend the night with her.

“Could you be knowing whether the message sent to you by Monica Kimani led to her killing? And, did you know that she might have been cohabiting with another man, who was provoked by the message?” Nandwa asked the witness.

Kariuki said he had no information in regard to the questions posed by the lawyer.

“How would you react if you found such a message in your lover’s phone?” Nandwa asked the witness. “I would probably confront her,” responded Kariuki.

The witness told the court that he met Monica Kimani at her home at 9:20pm on September 18, 2018.

“I drove to her place in Lamuria Gardens in Kilimani, Nairobi. That was the second time I was meeting her. The first time I got to know her was on August 25, 2018, when I met her at a dowry payment ceremony in Nyeri. The ceremony had been organised by a mutual friend whose name is Willis,” said Kariuki.

According to the witness, it was Willis who introduced Kimani to him.

“They (Willis and Kimani) had worked together in South Sudan,” he said.

Kariuki said he had maintained regular communication with Kimani because he was interested in exploiting new investment opportunities in South Sudan.

Kariuki said upon reaching Kimani’s house on September 18, he wasn’t asked to produce his national identification card at the main gate, as Kimani had already informed the guards that she was expecting him.

“She came to the parking lot, hugged and told me she wanted to go back immediately because she had two visitors in her house, a Lebanese man and another man, whom she said worked as security guard at State House, Nairobi,” said Kariuki.

After Kimani excused herself, Kariuki told the court that he left for home.

“At 11pm, I received the strange love message from Monica, asking me to go and help her sleep. I tried calling her, but both her Kenyan and South Sudanese cellphone lines were not going through. I texted her, but she did not respond,” said Kariuki.

The Monica Kimani murder trial resumed on Tuesday, September 28. Joseph Irungu, alias Jowie, and journalist Jacque Maribe are the prime suspects in the murder. Both are out on bond.