Mpeketoni attack guns were also used in Hindi and Witu

Forensic reports by the police reveal that firearms used for the killings in Mpeketoni were again used in Mashamasha in Witu and Hindi in Lamu County in 2014 that left over 65 people dead and several others evicted.

On Tuesday, Chief Inspector Alex Chirchir from the forensic department based in Lamu told high court Judge Justice Martin Muya that a total of 18 cartridges had been collected from Hindi and Witu.

In a cross examination of a terror case involving suspected terror suspects Swaleh Shedu Auni and Joseph Kimani alleged to be behind the killings in Witu and Hindi, Chirchir said that six different AK47 firearms were used to fire the 18 cartridges which were 7.39 millimetres.

“Through comparative examination of the cartridges it revealed that they were fired by six different firearms possibly AK47 riffles,” said Chirchir.

The officer said police recovered the cartridges at the scene on the dates of 9 June 2014 and he sent them to Nairobi for forensic evaluation.

He said that one of the guns had fired 11 rounds of ammunition because the cartridges matched the outstanding calibre.

Chirchir said that his colleague Inspector Edward Kiptum took the exhibits to Nairobi, a fact defence counsel Richard Magolo and A.B Olaba opposed terming the move unofficial and against protocol.

Olaba said that usually it is the officer who recovers the exhibits at the scene that is supposed to present them for forensic examination.

“Kiptum stayed with the cartridges for one month before taking them to the lab for forensic evaluation and there was no rubber stamp from Lamu police station where the exhibits were released,” said Olaba.

Chirchir said at the scene in Mashamasha they also recovered a 1.66 millimetre flash light with two switches and a bullet steal core weighing 3.8 grams that he believed disintegrated from the barrel after firing.

In a cross examination Hamington Chumba from directorate of criminal investigation cybercrime unit said that he could not tell which message was which inline to the matter that happened in Mpeketoni.

Chumba said he received three phones belonging to Swaleh and his partner Kimani to investigate criminal matters perpetrated through the phones.

The officer said he was handed a Black Berry, Alcatel One Touch, and Phone Me phones to extract all the messages and images.

“It was for the investigating officer to interpret the messages and images we had extracted because he knew what they were looking for,” said Chumba.

Lawyer Magolo said the officer had failed to show in their report the call tap and details of calls made.

Chumba told the court that he lacked the machine to retrieve calls made and the location it was made from.

“The machine we use does not have a geo location to show the time and place where the call was placed, that kind of information can be retrieved from the service provider not cybercrime unit,” said Chumba.

Olaba said that the report had also failed to show who the owner of the phone was or the registered SIM card.