Waeni’s Head had Stone Tied to it, Police Reveal as They Probe Cult Links

The killer of a woman whose head was found in a dam in Kiambaa, Kiambu County tied a stone on it to ensure it sank.

This was probably aimed at ensuring the head would not be found, police revealed.

The head believed to be that of slain university student Rita Waeni Muendo was discovered in a dam on Sunday January 21 evening.

This was a week after her murder.

The human head was found floating in Ite Dam at Kimuga village, Kimuga sub-location, Kiambaa location by locals.

Police officers visited the scene for the second time on Monday where the decomposed human head of an unknown female adult was retrieved about five meters floating in the dam.

The head was wrapped in a purple female blouse and then put in a green carrier bag with a stone in it.

The head is believed to be of Waeni but needs further forensic analysis for identification.

Waeni’s family was first unable to identify her head Monday at the City Mortuary.

The family later visited Karuri police station and the scene where the body was found and said the purple clothe that the head was wrapped in was that of Waeni or resembled her clothe.

They also said the forehead, even though was rotting resembled that of Waeni.

Read: Two Nigerians Detained in Probe into Murder of University Student Waeni

This left the detectives with half answers and announced an autopsy and DNA tests will confirm more about the identification of the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture Technology student.

Detectives now believe the killing of Waeni was part of an ongoing occultism in the country.

Occultism is part of the leading causes of murder in the country, officials say.

Detectives say occultism is part of what they are pursuing in the murder of Waeni.

The discovery of the human head gave a clue on where the killer may have headed to after murdering Waeni on January 13 at an apartment in Roysambu.

The detectives handling the matter said they are now following crucial clues on the killer and hope to make an arrest.

On Sunday January 21, two Nigerians were arrested over the murder.

A court Monday allowed police to hold the Nigerians for eight days pending probe on their possible involvement in the murder.

The dismembered body of Waeni was found in a dustbin at an apartment on TRM Drive, Kasarani but her head was missing.

The two were arrested in Ndenderu area, Kiambu County on Sunday evening moments after a head of a woman was discovered at Ite Dam at Kimuga village in the area.

Read Also: Cops Recover Human Head Believed to be of Slain Varsity Student Waeni in Kiambaa

Police said the two Nigerians are William Ovie Opia whose passport is expired and Johnbull Asbor who DCI said did not have any travel documents at the time of his arrest.

Asbor told the detectives that he lost his passport two years ago.

The suspects were traced by the DCI detectives to an apartment in Ndenderu in Kiambu County where they were picked up on Sunday..

A hatchet, butcher’s knife, a national identity card belonging to a to Omar Mwamkwaju Juma, six mobile phones, three laptops, 10 SIM cards from different teleco service providers and other items were recovered at the house where the two suspects were living.

Police told the court they wanted adequate time to escort the suspects 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.

They will be in custody until January 31.

Police said Opia bought a hatchet from an online vendor and he told investigators that he had bought it for self-defense.

A postmortem conducted on the body on Friday January 19 showed she had missing fingernails.

Her body was found in a dustbin.

“This person who did all these also tried to clip off the fingernails for reasons which I might not be able to know but for us scientists when we see fingernails clipped off, we think probably the person was trying to hide evidence so that we are unable to get his DNA from the victim,” government pathologist Johansen Oduor said.

The finding has left detectives puzzled with the motive of the killing still not yet established.

“I don’t know why but in investigations, such nails help in gathering evidence. People fight when dying and DNA evidence can be hidden there,” Oduor said.

Oduor however said there were remnants of some fingernails and that samples were taken for further analysis to help police in their investigations.

The autopsy confirmed that the body was dismembered with the head chopped off and the legs also cut away from the trunk.

“The skin looks like it was cut with a sharp object but the bone was sawed off with what looks like a hacksaw. This is the first time I’m seeing something like this. In my forensic life, I have never come across such an incident, Oduor said.

The pathologists picked sample from kidney, stomach, vagina and blood for toxicology analysis at government chemist for further tests to ascertain if their were substances introduced to the body.

This is after police suspected the woman was drugged before being murdered.

The family said the killer had demanded a ransom of Sh500,000 for him not to kill Waeni.
It also emerged the killer had sent a picture to the family using Rita’s mobile phone as he prepared to kill her using a hacksaw as part of efforts to push them send the money he had demanded.
According to the family, she left her aunt’s residence in Syokimau to meet with a friend.

They say at around 5 am on Sunday, her father received a message, delivered from her phone number, demanding a ransom of Sh500,000 within 24 hours for the release of the student.

“With this message, the family reported the matter to the police and DCI, and investigations began,” said the statement.

They said an additional two messages were sent to the family demanding the ransom.

“Unfortunately, the family did not get further details about the ransom or an opportunity to explore this route. Additionally, some demands were made when she had already been murdered,” the family said.