Suspected killer of journalist charged in Eldoret court

A man suspected to be behind the killing of veteran journalist John Kituyi appeared in the Eldoret Law Courts yesterday where he was charged with robbery with violence.

Nicholas Kathukya Kavili, a Kenya Defence Forces man serving at Kenyatta Barracks in Gilgil, Nakuru County, was arrested in Eldoret on Tuesday evening and detained in the police station before he was presented to court.

Police investigation reports indicate Mr Kavili was found in possession of an Airtel Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) card that belonged to the deceased.

Kavili appeared before Senior Principal Magistrate Charles Obulutsa and pleaded not guilty to the charges. He was granted a Sh500,000 bond with a similar surety and the matter scheduled for mention on August 6. The hearing was set for September 10.

According to a post-mortem report, Mr Kituyi was hit with a blunt object on the back of his head repeatedly, leading to his death in an incident where his phone was seized by the assailants.

He was killed at Pioneer Estate in Eldoret on April 30, 2015 while heading home at around 7.30pm by unknown assailants riding on a motorbike.

Until his death, Kituyi was the proprietor and managing editor of The Weekly Mirror newspaper that circulates n the larger North Rift and Western regions.