Suspect linked to Naivasha woman’s murder surrenders to police

Residents at the scene where police recovered the body of a woman found murdered in her house in Naivasha on February 9, 2021. [Antony Gitonga, Standard]

A man is in police custody in Naivasha after he turned himself in for the alleged murder of a 32-year-old woman in Kayole.

Investigators said Charles Mwaura, 22, has been on the run for four days and has confessed to killing mother-of-two Beth Mwihaki. 

Officer commanding Naivasha police division Samuel Waweru said the suspect would be arraigned tomorrow.

A postmortem showed Mwihaki was strangled using a piece of cloth.

Police have also established that a ransom note demanding Sh2 million from her family was authored by Mwaura to throw investigators off track.

One of the investigators said the suspect arrived at Naivasha police station accompanied by relatives when he confessed.

Mwihaki’s sister Ruth Wanjiku told the Standard they first realized something was amiss when she did not open her business and was not responding to calls.

The motive of the murder is still unknown.

“After she was killed, the killers locked the door from outside and we had to break in,” Wanjiku added.

Lakeview MCA Simon Wanyoike who was among the first on the scene expressed his concern over increased crime.