Caroline Kangogo: Puzzle of female officer on the run as police launch nationwide hunt

Police officers carrying the body of Police Constable John Ogweno into a police van at Kasarani Police Line in Nakuru on July 5, 2021. Ogweno was allegedly shot dead by his colleague Corporal Caroline Kangogo [Kipsang Joseph, Standard]

Fugitive cop Caroline Kangogo spent hours drinking with the two men who were later found dead two days apart, one in Nakuru and the other in Kiambu.

In the Kiambu incident, close circuit camera footage obtained from Jogoo Kimakia County Lodge off Gatanga Road in Thika, shows the corporal spending the better part of Monday together with the man found dead in the hotel room.

“They spent the better part of Monday at the lounge having drinks up to the evening according to the footage obtained from the premises,” Juja DCIO Richard Mwaura said.

By yesterday, police and family members had identified the second victim as 32-year-old Peter Ndwiga Njiru, a married resident of Juja.

According to a family friend who spoke in confidence, Njiru hailed from Embu County was a hardworking young man. “He was a very friendly and social person,” she said.

“Most of the time he was very active on various social media platforms,” the friend said.

She said the deceased has been running the security company with friends for the past few years. According to his social media posts, Peter a father of two was always sharply dressed.

Depressed wife

The family friend said the wife was still too depressed and could not engage the media. “It is shocking that Peter has left behind a very young family with a first born son aged barely five years,” she said.

Fugitive cop Caroline Kangogo [Courtesy]

The family members and friends yesterday identified the body at the General Kago Funeral Home at the Thika Level Five Hospital and made preliminary reports at the Juja Police Station.

Preliminary investigations by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) in Juja show that the two had booked room number 107 at Hotel Dedamax along Thika Superhighway. The hotel is located at Kimbo, a busy market on junction of Thika highway and the Ruiru-Kiganjo Road.

Police said inside the room, Ndwiga’s body lay on the bed with blood splashed across the bedding signaling the impact of the bullet that tore through his ears.

“The bedding were scattered a sign of some struggle. Wearing a white stripped shirt and maroon long trouser his body lay with one leg on the ground with one of his shoe on.

At Superb Security Group Limited offices opposite Zetech University further down on Thika road towards the city, the premises of the security group that Ndwiga ran remained closed as detectives combed the area for crucial leads of the bizarre murder that shocked locals.

Ideal place

Police believe Ms Kangogo is in possession of corporal John Ogweno’s firearm, a loaded Ceska pistol. Ogweno was killed early Monday morning at the Kasarani Police line in Nakuru.

Corporal Ogweno was found dead at the wheel of his car, which had a smashed windscreen with the engine still running.

Jogoo Kimakia Hotel which is off Thika superhighway on Gatanga Road appears to have been an ideal place for the lovebirds. A quiet resort built by the late bus transport tycoon Jogoo Kimakia, it is located next to Jogoo Kimakia Estate in a leafy suburb of Thika now town but administratively in Gatanga, Murang’a.

It is a quiet resort where the clientele will mostly be self driven - the kind of places that police avoid for want of drama. Ms Kangogo paid Sh3,020 bill at the lodge by pesapal at 3:29pm. This receipt was found at the room where Ndwiga’s body was.

Police officers at Juja believe the two picked Dedamax because it was near Ndwiga’s residence. DCIO Mwaura said Ms Kagongo left the room at around midnight Monday and fled to an unknown destination, leaving the dead man’s body on the bed.

She had told the caretaker of the rooms that she was leaving to receive another visitor the two were expecting. Detectives have established that it was Ms Kangogo who also paid for the room at Sh3,000.

Mwaura said it remains unclear what motivated the second shooting. The hotel staff who were on duty have since been interrogated and claimed not to have heard any commotion or gunshot during the period when the crime was committed.

The search for Kangogo is said to have been temporarily stopped last evening after a flamboyant city lawyer promised to deliver her to DCI headquarters this morning. The lawyer reportedly assured cops that she was in touch with her.