An Airbnb operator has given a harrowing account of the night she discovered the body of Kenyan socialite Starlet Wahu in a pool of blood inside a South B apartment, describing the scene as something that will haunt her for life.
Testifying before Justice Alexander Muteti at the Milimani High Court on Tuesday, Jane Wairimu Mutugi recounted how a routine booking spiralled into a gruesome crime scene that led to the arrest of murder suspect John Matara.
Wairimu, a salon owner and Airbnb operator in South B, said the incident occurred on January 3, 2024, at Papino Apartments, Room Y32. She is the fifth prosecution witness in the ongoing trial against Matara, who is accused of killing Wahu.
“Officers broke the door, and I saw the woman (Wahu). She was squatting near the entrance, face down. There was blood everywhere,” Wairimu testified.
The court heard that the booking began with a phone call at around 5pm from a number Wairimu didn’t recognise. The man introduced himself as someone seeking a unit with a balcony.
“I sent him photos of available apartments. He chose one with a balcony, although it was not mine—it belonged to my colleague, Charity Muthoni,” she explained.
Wairimu directed him to Room Y32 and informed him that the cleaner had just left, so the door was unlocked. The man, later identified as Matara, agreed to pay Sh3,200 in cash. Wairimu sent her cleaner, Angelica Muthoni, to collect the payment and deliver it to Charity.
All seemed normal until 9pm when Wairimu received a panicked call from Charity, alerting her that the guest had left the building wearing a blood-soaked towel.
Alarmed, Wairimu rushed to South B’s Hazina Police Station to report the matter. She then accompanied officers and Charity back to the apartment. The door was locked from inside, prompting police to break it open.
“I stood at the door when they broke it. I didn’t go in. I saw blood all over the room. The woman wasn’t moving, and she wasn’t talking,” Wairimu recalled. “It was clear something terrible had happened.”
Police later moved Wahu’s body to the Nairobi Funeral Home, and forensic officers took over the investigation.
Desperate to trace the man who had booked the apartment, Wairimu said she tried calling him multiple times.
“I called him ten times with no response. On the eleventh call, a woman answered and claimed the man was at South B Hospital,” she said. The woman later told her he had been referred to Mbagathi Hospital.
Wairimu sent a boda boda rider to confirm the claim, and he reported back that Matara had indeed been transferred.
Wairimu, Charity, and police proceeded to Mbagathi Hospital, where they found Matara receiving treatment.
“Charity identified him immediately. He was still in the same blood-soaked towel,” Wairimu testified. “Police arrested him on the spot.”
Pointing to the dock, Wairimu confidently stated, “The person arrested that night is the same one seated here today—John Matara.”
The trial resumes on Wednesday, with prosecutors expected to present CCTV footage and photographic evidence from the scene.