DPP lays bare details of how police murdered lawyer and two others

FROM LEFTt: Peter Kamau, Leonard Maina Mwangi, Silvia Wanjiku Wanjohi, Stephen Cheburet Morogo and Fredrick ole Leliman in a Nairobi court during the hearing of a case in which they are accused of killing lawyer Willie Kimani, his client and a driver. [PHOTO: DAVID NJAAGA/STANDARD]

The prosecution has laid bare the planning and chilling execution of lawyer Willie Kimani, his client and a taxi driver by police officers.

Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Nicholas Mutuku narrated in court the details of the horrific killings in the middle of an open field on the outskirts of Nairobi in what is turning out to be a classic example of police extra-judicial killings.

"This was a well-planned execution that would have easily succeeded were it not for technology and Willie Kimani's attempt to solicit for help by writing on a piece of toilet paper and squeezing it out of the cell where they were being held at Syokimau Police Post," said Mr Mutuku.

Spill THE beans

He added that one of the accused, Peter Kamau, who at the time was a police informer, offered to spill the beans after he was arrested, and connected his co-accused to the murders of Mr Kimani, his client Josephat Mwenda and taxi driver Joseph Muiruri.

Mr Kamau is charged alongside Administration Police officers Fredrick ole Leliman, Stephen Morogo, Sylvia Wanjohi and Leonard Maina with the murders of Kimani, Mwenda and Muiruri in Soweto, Mlolongo, Machakos County, on the night of June 23, 2016.

According to Mutuku, the dispute that led to the deaths began in April 2015, when Leliman shot and arrested Mwendwa, who at the time was a boda boda rider, and later charged him in a Mavoko court with being in possession of bhang, resisting arrest and gambling.

"The deceased was aggrieved and reported the matter to the Independent Police Oversight Authority and sought help from the International Justice Mission. It was at this point that the AP officer felt his job was at risk and hatched a plot to eliminate Mwendwa," said Mutuku.

In May this year, Leliman involved Kamau in the plot he had hatched with Maina to eliminate Mwendwa. Kamau's task was to monitor and report Mwenda's movements. He was given a handset with an unregistered Sim card for communication.

On June 23, Kimani and Mwendwa were kidnapped as they left the Mavoko court where they had attended the hearing of the case.

Kamau had notified Leliman about the details of the taxi. Leliman and Maina used another car to trail lawyer and his client, and stopped them at a railway station and ordered them into their car.

When they reached the Syokimau police camp, they found Morogo and Wanjohi, who bundled all three into a cell without booking them in the occurrence book.

It was while in the cell that Kimani managed to write a note saying their lives were in danger and passed it through a hole to a boda boda rider passing outside. He gave out a number that the rider tried to call.

"At 7pm, Leliman, Maina and Kamau went back to the police post and put all three victims in the boot of a car. They drove them to an open field in Soweto and killed them in cold blood. They then put the bodies in gunny bags and dumped them at Kilimambogo," said Mutuku.

He stated that analysis of mobile phone communications had proved that all the accused persons were in constant touch and were at the specific places mentioned on the fateful day. The prosecution has lined up 60 witnesses.