A Makadara court Thursday freed two Nigerian men who were being held over the murder of university student Rita Waeni Muendo.
Principal magistrate Agnes Mwangi released the two even as the results of the DNA test are yet to come out.
The court had on January 31, allowed the police to hold William Ovie Opia and Johnbull Asbor for 21 days for purposes of collecting DNA samples to see if they match that of the deceased.
The police had also requested more time to analyze the sim cards, laptops and phones of the suspect.
When the matter came up in court Thursday , Magistrate Mwangi was informed that the investigations are concluded, and the only pending task is the DNA test.
The pair, through their lawyer Victor Obuli, requested the court to release them and also sought an order for the release of their phones.
Read: Rita Waeni Buried at Private Event in Makueni
While releasing them, the magistrate directed them to report to DCI every Wednesday pending the outcome of the DNA tests.
The police were also ordered to release their phones.
The two were suspected to have killed and dismembered the body of 20-year-old woman in an apartment on TRM Drive, Kasarani before disappearing with her head were living in Kenya illegally, according to investigations by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI).
Asbor told the detectives that he lost his passport two years ago.
The suspects were traced by the DCI’s Criminal Research and Intelligence Bureau (CRIB) detectives to an apartment in Ndenderu in Kiambu County where they were picked up.
Detective constable Benjamin Wangila of Kasarani DCI offices told the court on January 22 that the suspects were living not very far from the area where Rita Waeni’s head was recovered.
A hatchet, butcher’s knife, a national identity card belonging to a Kenyan (name withheld), six mobile phones, three laptops, 10 SIM cards from different telecom services providers and other items were recovered at the house where the two suspects were living.
“The investigation team is seeking to obtain call data records for all the SIM cards and mobile phone numbers recovered from the respondents to ascertain whether they were involved in the murder,” Wangila stated in an affidavit filed in the court.
“The applicant requires adequate time to escort the respondents to the Government Chemist for extraction of their blood samples for DNA analysis and comparison against the samples that were extracted from the scene of crime.”
Read Also: Autopsy on Waeni Head Shows She Died of Strangulation Before She Was Decapitated
He said the suspects are flight risks since they don’t have a known fixed place of abode.
Wangila was seeking orders to hold the suspects for eight days at the Kasarani police station which were granted.
The matter will be mentioned on March 14 to confirm the outcome of DNA tests.
Rita was buried at her parents’ home on February 5 in Mukimwani Village, Kisau location, Makueni County. The event was private, those present said.
The family confirmed that Waeni was buried on in a private ceremony attended only by family members.
Waeni was murdered on January 13, 2024, at a short accommodation apartment in Roysambu area, Nairobi, where her body was dismembered by the suspected killer.
The main killer is yet to be arrested and the motive is not known. Police say they are pursuing good leads into the murder.
The owner of the apartment, Risper Muthoni, told police the deceased’s perceived killer secured the room on Saturday, January 13 at 3 pm.
Read Also: Family of Slain Student Waeni Positively Identifies Her Severed Head at City Mortuary
It was not until the next day that the discovery was made, after the caretaker reported finding suspicious polythene bags and a blood-soaked bed sheet on the staircase.
The family later came out to reveal that Waeni had left her aunt’s house in Syokimau to meet a friend.
Officers who visited the scene found the dismembered body without a head, which was later found in a dam in Kiambu.
The head was identified by the family on January 25 during an autopsy procedure conducted by Chief Government Pathologist Dr. Johansen Oduor who stated that the findings indicated that Waeni died of strangulation before she was brutally dismembered by her killer.
The killer used a hacksaw in his mission.
The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) released Waeni’s body to her family on February 2, 2024, a family member said.
This was after the DNA tests also confirmed the head recovered belonged to the fourth year student.
Among others, police link the murder to occultsm.
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