Shortly after midday on Sunday, September 14, 2003, University of Nairobi lecturer Dr Chrispin Odhiambo Mbai sat in the living room of his house to read the day's newspapers. Suddenly, two strangers burst in.
They waved greetings to him at the door. Then one of them shouted: "We have been sent to kill you". Impulsively, the law professor rose up in a war cry, grabbed a stool next to him and hurled it at them. But too late as one of the killers already had his finger on the trigger and fired. The professor was rushed to hospital where he succumbed to his wounds.