Police probe land deal link in family’s murder

Kiambu County Commissioner Wilson Wanyanga addresses the press at the home of the late Nicholas Njoroge in Karura village, Kiambu, yesterday. [David Njaaga, Standard]

A land transaction that America-based nurse Nicholas Njoroge Warunge was undertaking before his brutal murder is the focus of investigations.

The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) will also revisit a 2018 incident where Njoroge’s brother was shot and injured by gunmen.

The police want to establish if there is any link to the past attack and the murder of the 55-year-old nurse and his family at their home in Karura, Kiambu County, on Tuesday night.

Yesterday, detectives from the DCI homicide section visited the home and dusted the compound for clues to the brutal killings.

Njoroge, his wife Anne Njoroge and two of their children were found murdered in their home on Wednesday morning.

A construction worker who was asleep in a separate house on the compound was killed first by the machete-wielding criminals on Tuesday night.

Trail of blood

Two groups of DCI detectives have been tasked to unravel the murder that has sent shockwaves in Karura Ka Murimu.

The Homicide Unit headed by Edwin Nyuguto will handle the technical part of the investigations including crime scene analysis and dusting.

A second team of detectives from Karuri DCI office has been tasked with gathering intelligence and recording of statements.

They will be backed up by officers from the DCI headquarters Cyber-crime Unit will analyse call records of the deceased.

On Wednesday, the police recovered four mobile phones from Njoroge’s house and they were handed over to the cyber-crime experts for forensic analysis.

Yesterday, a section of the detectives held their first meeting to draw up their investigations diary and possible leads into the murder.

It still unclear the number of people who took part in the killing. By last evening, crime scene officers had mapped out three sets of shoe prints from their analysis of the compound.

Preliminary investigations indicate that Njoroge suffered 34 stab wounds while other family members were stabbed only once.

What shocked the neighbours is that were distress no calls from the home.

From observation of the scene, it was clear that the attackers may have managed to subdue the family without causing commotion to attract the neighbours.

Njoroge’s body was found outside the house while other bodies were inside the main house that was locked from outside.

The keys to the two main doors were missing and the police had to break in to gain access to the house.

Investigators found a trail of blood from an upstairs bedroom to where Njoroge’s body was found, giving an indication that he could have been fleeing from his attackers.

The investigators did not find any marks on the perimeter wall to indicate that the criminals scaled it.