Murdered taxi driver Victoria Mumbua Muloki was repeatedly struck by a blunt object before being strangled to death, a post mortem report shows.
Government pathologist Dr Johansen Oduor, who conducted the post-mortem at the City Mortuary also revealed that the mother of three did not go down without a fight.
Dr Oduor said her body had physical injuries, implying her killer was intentional.
The injuries suggested she tried to protect herself or fight back.
He added that further tests were being conducted on additional samples, which are crucial for investigators to piece together the crime.
A suspect is in custody in connection with the murder. She went missing on September 27 from Mombasa before her body was discovered in Lari, Kiambu County two days later and more than 400 kilometers away.
The suspect, Edwin Ng’etich, has led detectives to various locations, including Mt. Elgon, Butere, Uasin Gishu, and Nakuru, where police have recovered five motor vehicles.
The team plans to revisit the route the suspect used from Mombasa through Kibwezi, Nairobi, Lari and later Nakuru as part of the probe into the murder.
The suspect been linked to at least two other similar past murder incidents.
It is believed Ng’etich abducted the owners of these vehicles before stealing their cars. In July 2014, he is alleged to have abducted and killed taxi driver George Njuguna. Njuguna operated in Kisii.
Ng’etich faces two murder charges and two robbery with violence charges involving taxi drivers.
Police suspect that after abducting his victims, Ng’etich would use their motor vehicles to transport drugs or refugees as part of a human trafficking syndicate.
In his confession, N’getich told police that on September 27, while in Mombasa, he requested a ride from Muloki and she accepted.
Midway through the journey, he attacked her, assaulted her multiple times, and tied her to the back seat of the car.
He then took control of the vehicle and drove towards Nairobi.
While passing through Kibwezi, the woman pleaded for her release.
He stopped the car, strangled her to death, and continued driving with her body, he told police
Ng’etich eventually drove to Mai Mahiu and dumped her body in a thicket near Lari, Kiambu County.
After disposing of the victim’s body, he drove her car to Nakuru, where he was arrested.
Police said Muloki, 35 was driving the salon car when she disappeared.
The driver’s last communication, according to police, was when she was in Samburu, Kwale County.
Samburu town is located about 66 kilometres from Mombasa Central Business District.
Muloki’s disappearance was reported at the Makupa Police Station in Mombasa by her mother.
Police investigations show the vehicle had earlier been spotted in the Kondele area in Kisumu County.
It was later traced to Nakuru as police intensified their search for the woman who had found success in the male-dominated taxi business.
Such cases have been on the rise amid police operations that solved some of them.