A 21-year-old man believed to have murdered his employer on Sunday, November 10 at Njathaini area of Kasarani, Nairobi is among three arrested.
According to police, the suspect, Victor Ambeyi, was smoked out of his hideout at Valley area of Kinoo in Kiambu County over the murder of Catherine Waceke Kimotho, 78.
Her body was found in a septic tank.
In the incident reported at Njathaini Police Station, the deceased’s body was discovered sprawled at her homestead, and the suspect, a casual labourer at the home, missing.
After committing the crime, the suspect attempted to cover it up by wrapping the deceased’s body in a blanket and dipping it in a septic tank within the compound.
Waceke went missing on Saturday evening while at her home.
At the time she was reported missing, she had been at home with one of her male casual employees.
A search was mounted in the compound and the surrounding neighbourhood, but with no success.
On Sunday evening, detectives found a female body wrapped in blankets and submerged in a septic tank on the property. The septic tank, which was located near a cowshed, had been covered to conceal the body.
When the body was recovered, it was positively identified by the family as that of Catherine Waceke Kimotho. She had been killed, and visible injuries were found on the back of her head, suspected to have been inflicted by a blunt object.
Detectives from Nairobi regional headquarters proceeded to Kinoo, where the suspect was being harbored by his cousin, Collins Seda Wanjau, 22. The two were arrested.
After interrogating the suspects, detectives furthered the investigation to Githurai 44, where they recovered the mobile phone of the deceased at a phone repair shop belonging to 22-year-old Benjamin Kimani Mwaura.
He was also taken into custody.
The three suspects have been booked at Kasarani Police Station ahead of their arraignment Wednesday, as detectives seek to unearth the motive behind the heinous murder.
The woman was reported missing before her body was discovered, police and witnesses said.
Preliminary investigations revealed that Ambeyi, born and raised in Kakamega County, had been employed as a casual worker at the deceased’s home for a month before he killed her.
He admitted to attacking the elderly woman on Saturday after being paid less than the amount they had agreed upon.
This increases to more than 100, the number of women in a trend that is however not related.
Police say murder incidents are criminal and no gender is targeted.
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