A Chief is among four witnesses lined up by the state to testify in a case involving a senior Laikipia Air force soldier, implicated in the murder of his two children and estranged wife.
Lead Prosecution counsel James Mwangi told a Nyeri court he had five witnesses including a high-ranking officer from the Laikipia Airbase, who were supposed to testify in the matter in which Major Peter Mugure is alleged to have conspired in wiping out his entire family in October 2019 at the Laikipia Airbase.
However, Justice Martin Muya allowed Major Fredrick Laja to testify in camera after it emerged that his testimony might compromise the security of the Nanyuki -based Air force barracks.
When he took to the witness box, Duncan Muchemi Wachira who is Nanyuki town local administrator told the court of how he came to learn of the death of the three victims through a news update in one of the local TV stations on November 16, 2019.
Muchemi who was being cross examined by Mwangi said on learning about the gory deaths, he immediately drove to the Thingithia Public Cemetery, where he found homicide detectives exhuming the bodies of the victims who had been buried in a single shallow grave.
The area which is rarely frequented by the public had by then been sealed off and marked as a crime scene.
“When I learnt the said process of exhuming the bodies was being undertaken in my own backyard, I immediately headed there as a matter of priority. By the time I arrived at the scene, I found police had already cordoned off part of the cemetery after exhuming the three bodies that were wrapped up in nylon sacks. And from a casual look one could tell the victims were an adult and two children owing to the different sizes of the gunny bags they had been stashed in,” he told the court.
When defense lawyer George Goro asked him whether he was aware about the link between the suspect and the victims, he denied having known the accused till the day the news about the matter became public.
He also told the court the bodies which were in bad shape at the time were thereafter taken to the Nanyuki Teaching and Referral Hospital Mortuary as investigations into the gruesome murders got underway.
Joseph Njoroge Kiama and Wahome Ndirangu, both employees of 4NTE Sacco also told the court of how they came across a mobile phone allegedly owned by Joyce Syombua (wife of the suspect) after it was allegedly left in one of the PSV matatus operate by the Sacco.
Kiama, the driver of a 14-seater matatu registration KCM 744M said he was buckling up the seats of the vehicle after arriving in Nanyuki town from Bomet on October 27, 2019 when he discovered a mobile phone left in one of the seats.
On finding out that the phone was working, he handed it to Ndirangu as he was the one in charge of keeping such items until their owners came for them.
He told the court that by then the handset, make Nokia, had several missed calls with more calls still coming in, but the mobile phone was encrypted in such a way that one could not pick up the calls.
His testimony was corroborated by Ndirangu who said he tried several times to receive the incoming calls to no avail, until he decided to copy one of the numbers on the missed calls log and using his own mobile phone tried to reach out to the person.
The caller informed him that he was looking for the owner of the phone for several hours to no avail after she apparently went missing.
He nevertheless told the court he did not in any way tamper with the phone until detectives from the Nanyuki Police Station arrived at the 4NTE office on October 29 2019 to inquire about the matter.
“After the mobile phone had been handed to our office, Kiama who is our driver, I tried to trace the whereabouts of its owner but was not able to do so since it appeared locked,” he said.
“Eventually we used the number of one of the callers who had been calling incessantly and upon inquiry were informed that he was looking for the owner of the phone as she had gone missing for some time. I then informed him to visit our offices to check on the phone as it was in our possession. However, things took a twist on October 29, 2019 when an Inspector of Police from Nanyuki Police Station, Victor Kiptoo visited our office in the company of a lady and later took the phone,” he explained.
Kiptoo, after interrogating Ndirangu is said to have asked the driver to report to the Station and write a statement in connection to the incident.
The court heard Wednesday, how Mugure allegedly transported the bodies of Syombua and her two children before burying them at the Nanyuki public cemetery.
Collins Pamba, who was charged alongside the main suspect, but was later turned to be a state witness narrated how he assisted the key suspect load, transport and bury the remains of the three victims.
At the core of the evidence given by Pamba, currently serving a 5-year term at the Kerugoya GK prison for his role in the murders was Subaru Impreza KCP 740F, which was brought to the court as he explained how he and Mugure bundled the bodies into the car.
A prayer by Mugure through his lawyer Goro to be released on bond was disallowed after the Prosecution side said it was yet to receive such an application.
Goro however accused the State of not being keen in seeing the expedient hearing of the case by alleging the prosecution side had been served with the bond application on November 8 2022.
“My lord we did send our bond application to the Prosecution side on November 8 this year but have not received any reply. We therefore feel they are not keen to have this case heard and determined expediently even after my client has been in custody for three years,” he lamented.
Justice Muya promised to rule on the matter on January 26, 2023.
In the meantime, the State is planning to line up 16 more witnesses, including seven soldiers attached to the Laikipia Airbase, when the matter comes up for the next hearing on March 14 next year.