Husband of slain Australian teacher held in connection with her murder in Karen

The husband to an Australian teacher who was killed last week has been arrested in connection with her murder.

Gabrielle Maina, the head teacher of Hillcrest Preparatory School in Karen, was shot dead last Thursday as she walked to her home in Karen.

On Monday her estranged husband Cyrus Maina Njuguna and another man identified as John Waithira Njuguna were arrested after police said a preliminary probe had linked them to the murder.

Police handling the case said the mother of two sons had complained of receiving threats from her husband before the death.

This was after she moved to court and obtained a restraining order against him in April this year over the custody of their children. The couple were going through a divorce process in court.

Karen OCPD Cunningham Suiyanka said they are holding Maina as a prime suspect in the murder probe.

“We believe he has information that can help us know how and why she was murdered. He is here with another suspect for interrogation by the DCI,” said Suiyanka.

The officers handling the case had apparently seized Mr Maina’s mobile phones to examine data as part of their probe.

Ms Maina, 40, was shot once in the neck by a gang of three that was riding on a motorbike.

A post-mortem examination conducted on her body showed she had a single gunshot wound in the neck. The bullet exited through her back.

Police believe she was kneeling at the time of the shooting.

“Given the angle that the bullet entered and exited her body and the marks on her knees, it suggests she was kneeling when she was killed,” said an investigator aware of the probe.

The gang had approached and blocked her way as she walked to her house on Thursday morning before they shot her at close range . They grabbed her mobile phone and escaped on a motorbike.

The woman moved to Kenya in 2015 and was the head teacher at the Hillcrest Preparatory School in Karen. She had previously worked in Australia.

Police say investigations show after the shooting, her killers stopped in Kawangware and dispersed. The mobile phone they stole from her is yet to be used.