Killer of mother, daughter at large as questions still linger

Families of victims who were brutally murdered during the launch of Her life matters-women crusade. [Edward Kiplimo,Standard]

Neighbours eulogise Ann Njeri, 42, and her daughter Purity Wairimu, 13, as angels who had time for everyone.

Njeri, a casual laborer, struggled to ensure her daughter who sat KCPE last year would join secondary school.

In January, with the help of friends, she organised a funds drive to raise fees after Wairimu got Form One admission. They managed to raise more than Sh30,000.

Come February, the student who aspired to be a doctor was eager to join secondary school.

But the dreams of mother and daughter were shattered after their bodies were found in their house in Sanctuary estate off Moi South Lake road on February 2.

House locked

Neighbours suspect the woman’s boyfriend, still at large, is responsible for the murder.

According to a witness Jane Njeri, the bodies were discovered after a foul smell emanated from the house locked from outside.

Njeri claimed the suspect frequented the deceased’s house.

“We thought Njeri and the daughter were out of town as the house was locked from outside and it’s the foul smell that made us suspicious before our worst fears were confirmed,” she said.

A family friend Sheila Wambui said she was yet to overcome the pain of losing the  young family.

“The suspect was humble and shy and we never thought that he could insult someone leave alone murdering two people,” she said.

A police source said investigations linked the woman’s boyfriend to the murder adding that he switched off his phone.

The officer is optimistic that it’s a matter of time before they catch up with the suspect who was also a casual laborer in the area.

“A post mortem conducted on the bodies indicated that the two died from injuries inflicted by a blunt object to the back of their heads,” said the source.

Nakuru Senator Susan Kihika called for urgent action to tame the worrying trend of husbands and boyfriends murdering women. “In the last one year we have recorded incidents where men kill women merely because of rejection,” she said.