A 74-year-old grandmother gave a harrowing account of how she discovered the body of a woman allegedly killed by her grandson on Christmas Day of last year.
Julia Mwangi told Justice Patricia Gichohi that her grandson, Bernard Ngugi, who worked for her as a house servant, allegedly murdered a woman named Tabitha Wambui.
Wambui was a businesswoman from Ngomongo Village in Mawanga, Nakuru County.
After the crime, he reportedly placed the body in a gunny bag and left it in the kitchen, next to the servant quarters where he lived.
Mwangi recounted yesterday that on December 25, 2024, she found a bloody gunny bag in the kitchen while looking for Ngugi in his room.
She explained that her husband, Joseph, was unwell and needed to be taken to the hospital.
"As I entered the kitchen, I noticed blood trickling from behind the door. I looked and saw a white gunny bag stained with blood. I called for my grandson, who came and suggested we contact Munyuku Gichaga, whom we had asked to assist us in taking my husband to the hospital," she said.
Shocked by the discovery, Mwangi composed herself, initially wondering how Ngugi had slaughtered a goat without her knowledge.
She rushed to the goat pen and confirmed that all the animals were present, leading her to realise that her fears might be true.
Mwangi then called her neighbour, who came to investigate and confirmed the presence of human remains. They informed the police, but by that time, Ngugi had disappeared.
She recalled that earlier that day, around 5 PM, after milking the cows, Ngugi had given her the milk but later returned with an empty bottle, claiming someone else needed milk.
"As he poured the milk, I noticed he was trembling. I offered to help him, but he refused. He seemed drunk, took the milk, and left," she added.
Mwangi described the remains as belonging to a woman who had injuries to her breasts with her eyes gouged out.
On December 26, she received a call from Ngugi using a different phone number, asking for money and claiming he had done something serious.
He said he would explain once he returned home.
"I told him it was impossible to send money at that moment because I didn’t have any," she explained.
The next day, she learnt that he had been arrested at Tumaini Centre.
Gichaga, her neighbour, testified that he had received a call from Mwangi informing him that her husband was sick and needed to go to the hospital.
While at their home, he was drawn to a suspicious gunny bag with liquid leaking from it that he suspected was blood.
"I asked for a machete and a torch. When I opened the gunny bag, I saw human legs without clothing. We called the police, who then arrived at the homestead and discovered the remains of a female," he stated.
