Husband, house girl detained over death of Githunguri MP's sister

**Stephen Ndolo Kioo and Violet Nafula Wanjala at Ruiru Law Courts when they were arraigned over the death of Jane Murugi. They were remanded for 10 days at Ruiru Police Station**. [Kamau Maichuhie, Standard]

The husband of a woman who was found dead in the washroom in their Membley Estate home in Ruiru on Friday was on today charged over her death.

Stephen Ndolo Kioo and his house help Violet Nafula Wanjala were arraigned before Ruiru Senior Principal Magistrate Clara Otieno.

Investigating officer Patrick Okumu in an application filed in court sought an order to detain the duo for 10 days to conduct investigations into the death of 41-year-old Jane Murugi Mukuha.

Mukuha who was a clinical officer from Machakos County is the sister to Githunguri MP Gabriel Kago Mukuha while Ndolo is a medical doctor and the Makueni County director of health.

He is said to have previously worked with Kiambu County government during the time which he knew the deceased.

Mr Okumu in his affidavit said Mr Ndolo,38, called a neighbour on Friday morning at 5.am and informed him his wife had committed suicide by hanging herself in the washroom.

According to the affidavit, the neighbour called the police who upon arrival found the body of the deceased half seated on the toilet bowl with her neck tied up loosely to a window grill by a piece of cloth joined with a necktie.

Okumu in his affidavit indicated that a liquid substance was found in a cup placed on a sink in the washroom where the body was found.

The detective also informed the court that a blood-stained man’s white vest was found in the same washroom placed under other clothing.

He also indicated that the CPU of the CCTV appeared to have been tampered with and when the husband was asked for the password, he said that only the deceased knew it.

The court heard that house girl has been living in the house for years and when asked whether she knew or observed anything connected to the death of her boss, she remained silent.

"The duo’s story of events are inconsistent hence more time is needed to carry out thorough interrogation, investigate their call data, messages and get the results from government chemist,” said Mr Okumu.

The investigating officer said there are compelling reasons for the duo to be held for 10 days in order to complete investigations.

He said they needed the time to analyse mobile phones of the two and the deceased which have already been availed to the DCI-cyber crime section for analysis.

Okumu added they needed time to take samples of contents taken from the deceased’s stomach through toxicology examination.

The couple had three children aged 9 and 7 years, and the youngest who is two months old.

The suspect’s lawyer, however, opposed the application by the DCI saying they had not demonstrated that they needed ten days to continue holding them.

He said the DCI has already covered much ground on the matter adding the 10 days they were asking for was not necessary.

The lawyer told the court an autopsy on the deceased has already been carried out and added the police had not indicated if they wanted to record a statement from any witnesses.

“The DCI has not justified why they need the 10 days. That period is too long in the circumstances. The police have already retrieved all the evidence that they need in the matter,” he said.

He pleaded with the court to release the two on bond or to order they be detained for only a maximum of two days.

Prosecution counsel Mary Maundu supported the application by the DCI saying they needed the time to conclude investigations.

She said the 10 days will allow the investigators to unearth what led to the death of the deceased.

“There are compelling reasons why the duo need to be detained for 10 days. The is a high likelihood that they will interfere with the investigations. Already, the CCTV footage seems to have been tampered with,” she said.

The magistrate ruled the duo be detained at Ruiru Police Station for five days to allow investigations to be completed.

A police source at Ruiru Police Station said results for the postmortem conducted on Saturday shows the deceased committed suicide.