Suspects linked to murder of Grade 8 pupil released on Sh500,000 bail

The 13-year-old Wesley Njiru was a Grade 8 pupil at Joy Gardens Primary School. [Courtesy, Family]

Five suspects linked to the murder of a Grade 8 pupil at Joy Gardens Primary School in Umoja-Tena have been released.

The Five Jane Kamau, James Mungai, Caroline Matheka, Antony Kimani and Vanice Bosire were on Thursday released on a Sh500,000 cash bail each or an alternative bond of Sh300,000 each and surety of a similar amount.

Senior Principal Magistrate Justus Kituku in his orders directed the suspects to surrender all travel documents to the police and present themselves anytime called upon by the police.

"Until a decision is made by this court, the respondents shall not access the premises of the school, directly or indirectly interfere with the investigations," said Justice Kituku.

The five were arrested on Friday last week after the deceased allegedly jumped from the rooftop of a seven-storey building that houses the school.

Police said the suspects had given contradicting versions of what happened making it difficult for them to ascertain who was telling the truth.

The prosecution had sought to hold the suspects for 21 days to conclude investigations into the possible murder of Wesley Njiru.

The Prosecution argued that if released, the suspects would interfere with key witnesses in the case majority being pupils and staff at the school.

"The respondents hold senior positions at the school. Two of them are directors and one a headteacher, with these positions, they are likely going to interfere with our work," the prosecution said.

But the Magistrate in his ruling said the prosecution had not presented any evidence that directly linked the suspects to the death of Wesley.

Police had also downplayed claims that the deceased died by suicide after jumping from the building and said that he would have been murdered elsewhere within the school premises before his body was dumped on the balcony.

However, postmortem results presented in court indicated that Wesley died instantly after a fall from a height.

The results further indicated that the deceased suffered fractured limbs including legs, hands and spinal cord.

"We have also established fresh anal bruises indicating that the deceased would have suffered molestation before his death," the prosecution told the court.

The court directed that DNA swabs be conducted on two of the suspects and the case be mentioned in two weeks.