Years after Agnes Wanjiru’s body was discovered in a septic tank in Nanyuki, a British soldier linked to the 21-year-old woman’s killing and his colleagues laughed about the incident on Facebook, it has emerged.
Wanjiru, a sex worker, was found dead after partying with the troops in Lions Court Hotel in 2012.
The Sunday Times reports that a member of the same regiment posted two photos from outside the hotel, where Wanjiru’s body was found.
The soldier captioned the photos, “If you know you know” with a crying laughing emoji. He also tagged a number of members of his team in the post.
The British paper reports that several soldiers, at least one of whom is still with the regiment, reacted to the post.
One of the military men posted a photo of a ghost emoji, and another chillingly added the words: “Septic tank.” A third wrote: “Rum gaff” – meaning ‘dodgy place’.
Read: “I’ve Killed Her”: British Soldier Recounts Events in Murder of Woman by Colleague in Nanyuki
Soldier X, who is accused of killing Wanjiru, reportedly reacted with an emoji of an angel. Other members of his team then responded with crying-laughing emojis, followed by a cartoon of a baby crying at a funeral from TV show Family Guy.
One of the soldiers, the paper reports, asked soldier X if he gets “all choked up thinking about that place”, an apparent reference to allegations that he choked Wanjiru to death during an intimate moment.
He replied: “Come to think of it I have had a sore throat today.”
A total of nine soldiers are said to have participated in the conversation confirming claims that Wanjiru’s murder was an open secret in the British training camp located in Laikipia County.
One of the soldiers, who was interviewed by the Sunday Times, denied that he was “laughing at the murder. He said he actually didn’t believe that soldier X was a killer.
Also Read: British Army Suspends Operations In Kenya, Evacuated To UK Over COVID-19 Pandemic
“If I was laughing, I was probably laughing at the night, because it was a bit of a crazy night,” he said. “There was loads of women,” he said.
“I don’t think I was laughing at that [a murder]. The rumour I heard is that somebody had sex with a prostitute, and the sex went wrong. To be honest I didn’t even believe it.”
Soldier X declined to comment when he was presented with the Facebook posts.
The suspect previously told the paper that he was “not surprised” that others in the regiment believed he was responsible for Wanjiru’s murder, terming the allegations against him as lies.
Also Read: Five Elephants Allegedly Killed in Fires Started By British Soldiers Training in Kenya
“There was a rumour going around for a long time, which actually was borderline bullying. But there’s nothing you can do when you’re in the military, and people say stuff like that, but honestly, it’s full of lies,” he said.
Last week, reports emerged that the soldier had confessed to killing Wanjiru to his army colleagues on the night of the murder.
The body of Wanjiru was found by a maintenance worker who noticed a foul smell two months after her murder. The soldiers had already left Kenya at the time of the discovery.
One of the soldiers confessed to the Sunday Times that the killer comrade showed them the body of Wanjiru on the night she died.
Also Read: UK Gov’t Pledges to Support Probe into Murder of Woman By British Soldier in Nanyuki
Contrary to claims that Wanjuru died due to choking, it was established that the mother of one was stabbed to death. She also suffered blunt force injury to her chest and her lungs had collapsed.
Wanjiru’s family claim that Kenya and UK authorities staged a cover-up of the murder to maintain diplomatic relations despite evidence linking soldier X to the unfortunate incident.
Last week, the UK government pledged to support the probe into the murder of Wanjiru as pressure piled on both governments for action following the recent revelations.
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