Change of tack: Will Jacque Maribe testify against fiancé Jowie?

Jacque Mariba with her fiancé Jowie Irungu in a city restaurant during their engagement.

Television journalist Jacque Maribe is reportedly considering cutting a deal with the state that would see her turn into a witness against her fiancé Joseph Irungu in the murder of Monica Kimani.  

Sources also said her legal team was also considering filing an application at the Constitutional Court demanding that their client be released on grounds that she was no longer a person of interest in the case.

Among their reasons was the fact that police are yet to take any DNA samples from her as they requested in court and that there has so far been no connection in the evidence trail linking the journalist to Monica’s murder. Maribe’s lawyer Katwa Kigen visited the journalist yesterday at Gigiri police station where she is being held.

Part of the reason why Maribe’s legal team was torn on whether to make the application is that they felt they had made some progress in turning the journalist into a witness and did not want to jeopardise that.

Scene of crime

“If our client is called in by the police to say whatever she knows, she will readily assist,” Kigen told the Saturday Standard. “Some of the details they were looking for are whether our client knew Monica. It has been established that they did not know each other. This automatically removes her from the scene of crime,” he said.

The prosecution had asked for 14 days to detain the TV anchor, arguing that the investigations required more time as DNA samples needed to be collected and more statements taken from Maribe’s friends and colleagues.

They cited forensic and ballistic examination of the samples that they took from the suspect’s house, saying that if set free, Maribe could interfere with investigations. This was partly granted on Monday by Kiambu Principal Magistrate Justus Kituku. She ruled that Maribe should spend 10 more days in police cells as investigations into the murder of the businesswoman continued.

Maribes’ defense however argues that there has been no link between their client and a gun that was confiscated from Brian Kasaine.

The pistol, a Ceska Model CZP-07 with serial number B467102 has already been declared to have been in the possession of Kasaine illegally after it was established that its licence was cancelled in 2013. As a result, Kasaine, who was initially being considered a likely state witness is now set to be charged for illegal possession of a fire arm.

But so far, detectives pursuing the case have been unable to link the gun and Irungu’s alleged attempted suicide to Monica’s murder. Irungu’s case will be mentioned on Monday.