MMU Student In Murder Of Kemunto To Appear In Court, Explains To Police How She Died

A suspect in the murder of a student at the Multimedia University (MMU) has told police the victim collapsed and died in a fight.

Philip Eric Mutinda, a first-year Electrical Engineering student at the MMU was arrested over the death of Sylvia Kemunto.

Mutinda was wanted over the murder of Kemunto who was a first-year Mass Communications and Computer Science major.

Mutinda surrendered to police at the Sultan Hamud police station, Makueni County after being on the run for days.

Mutinda had been on the run since March 31 when he is believed to have stashed Kemunto’s body in a water tank at the college hours after he killed her.

He told police he had visited Kemunto’s room on March 30 because he knew she was in and would not go to church.

While in the room, he tried to touch her and make advances towards her but she was upset and pushed him away.

In anger, it prompted a confrontation which went physical and Mutinda claims he pushed her to the wall fatally injuring her.

After he realized she was dead minutes later he decided to fold her body into a huge suit case which he took to his room for a stay before dumping it in a water tank at the rooftop of one of the hostels.

He used a huge stone to hold the body and the tank’s lid before he escaped.

Police said Mutinda is expected in court on Monday April 7 where the detectives will seek permission to continue holding him as they investigate the murder.

The cops want to be allowed to hold him for more days as they investigate the murder of Kemunto, 20.

The detectives say they are yet to conduct an autopsy on the body of Kemunto to establish the cause of her death.

Mutinda surrendered on April 3 while the girl died on March 30.

Kemunto had been missing prompting a search.

The search for Kemunto started on Sunday March 30 when her mother Triza Kwamboka, who lives in Kawangware, Nairobi failed to reach her.

She said she had sent her upkeep money through a church elder’s phone but when she tried to confirm whether her daughter had received the funds, her calls went unanswered.

Kemunto’s mother traveled to the university, only to discover that her daughter was missing.

The college management confirmed her absence, prompting the mother to file a report at Langata Police Station.

The mother told police Kemunto had complained about a fellow student who was making advances to her but she was resistant.

“She said she did not like him and I told her to stand firm,” said Kwamboka.

Investigations show the student died in her room and the body was later dragged to the rooftop of the hostel where the water tanks are and dumped there.

The killer then tied the tank with a wire and placed a stone there ostensibly to deter any detection.

On the day Kemunto went missing, her roommate said she went to church and left her alone in the room.

Mutinda visited her in the room at about lunch hour.

Witnesses told police they later saw Mutinda drag a suitcase belonging to the deceased student from her room to his room in a different block.

It is suspected the suitcase contained the woman’s body.

Later that night, the man’s roommate reportedly noticed the suitcase in their room, but it was missing the following morning.

The witness said he saw the suspect lie on the suitcase but did not understand what was the motivation.

The next morning, the roommate woke up around 8 and noticed that both Mutinda and the suitcase were missing.

On Wednesday April 2, a foul smell emanating from Block E caught the attention of the search team.

By afternoon, the source of the odor was identified and traced to a water tank on the rooftop of one of the hostels.

Kemunto’s decomposing body was discovered therein before it was moved to the mortuary, police said.

Dozens of women have been killed in the recent past prompting authorities to take measures to address the trend in vain.