A Nairobi chief magistrate’s court on Monday allowed the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) to hold a woman accused of involvement in a murder at a city hotel for 14 days to allow further investigations.
Principal Magistrate Paul Mutai issued the custodial orders after police sought 21 days to conclude investigations into the killing of Baranabas Oketch Voeller, who was found dead at Kirubros Hotel in Nairobi’s central business district on September 13, 2025.
According to the DCI, the suspect, Bilha Nyaboke, was arrested at the hotel on the same day of the incident.
They alleged that she had been in Room 82 of the establishment with another man when the deceased gained access to the room.
A violent confrontation is said to have ensued, during which Voeller sustained severe injuries before he was escorted to the hotel’s waiting bay, where he was later discovered dead.
The DCI through police constable Frankline Muriuki told magistrate Mutai that CCTV footage captured the events leading to the killing, including a scuffle between the deceased and another suspect who is still at large.
The footage also showed hotel security attempting to intervene in the altercation.
Police say Nyaboke, who works as a sex worker, had earlier met a client at a nearby club before bringing him to the hotel room she had booked.
“On the morning of 13th September, 2025 at around 0400hours the respondent was at calabash club which is located next to trinity bus office within central business district whereby she met one adult male who paid for alcohol and she agreed to be paid Ksh 200/ for sexual services since she is a sex worker,” court was told.
Voeller, described as one of her regular clients, allegedly gained entry into the room while the man she was with stepped out, triggering the confrontation that led to his death.
Muriuki told the court that several inquiries remain pending, including an autopsy to establish the exact cause of death, forensic analysis of the hotel’s CCTV systems, a search for the respondent’s identity records since she had no identification at the time of arrest, and a mental assessment of the suspect.
They also want to conduct an identification parade and pursue the other suspect still at large.
Muriuki argued that Nyaboke posed a flight risk and that releasing her could jeopardize investigations since key witnesses were yet to record statements.
“The respondents are flight risk and that there are other suspects at large and other witnesses have not recorded and will interfere with the investigations,” read the court documents.
Nyaboke will be detained at Kamukunji police station until September 29, 2025 when the matter will be mentioned.
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