Police hunt GSU officer linked to brutal killing of a woman in Nairobi

Police hunt GSU officer after brutal killing of woman in Nairobi. [File, Standard]

A police officer attached to the General Service Unit (GSU) training college in Embakasi, is on the run after allegedly killing his girlfriend in Mihang'o, Nairobi.

The suspect, identified as Bernard Mutiso, is said to have been the last person seen with the deceased, Anne Muthoni, a woman believed to be in her early twenties, whose lifeless body was discovered inside her rented apartment on Sunday morning.

“We had that information in the morning. A report was made at Mihang'o Police Station, where it was alleged that there was a lady who stays within one of the apartments in the area, who was found lifeless,” said Kayole Sub-County Police Commander John Owuoth.

Police officers who responded to the scene found the body lying on a bed with a serious stab wound.

According to preliminary investigations, the deceased had been in the company of her boyfriend hours before her death.

According to Owuoth, information obtained from neighbours and individuals close to the victim placed Mutiso at the apartment in the early hours of Sunday.

“The neighbours gave us some information that on that material day, which is Sunday, around 3.00 hours, one heard some noise from outside. So, when he went, he found two people. One was the tenant, the lady who now lost her life, plus another person, whom, according to the neighbour, was her boyfriend,” he said.

The neighbour allegedly helped the couple access the compound after they were unable to open the gate.

“So, he opened and they entered and went to their room, only for the neighbours to find that the man was not there, missing, but the lady had died,” Owuoth said.

The body was discovered later that morning by the deceased’s roommate, Lucia Wamboi, who returned home after completing a 24-hour work shift. Wamboi said she initially thought her friend was asleep.

“When I came back, I found the padlock was locked as usual, and the key was where we normally leave it. When I entered, I found her on the bed sleeping, and covered just well,” she said.

However, Wamboi became suspicious when the deceased did not respond and appeared to be sleeping in an unusual position.

“I entered talking, and even asked her what happened for her to sleep on that side of the bed, but she didn’t respond, so I thought maybe she was deep asleep,” she said.

Moments later, when Wamboi said she walked in, she noticed the hand of the deceased was pale.

"I uncovered her and found that she was naked, and her face was covered with a towel and it was full of blood all over including the mattress. I panicked, ran away, and called the neighbours,” Wamboi said.

Police were alerted and the body was later removed from the house and taken to City Mortuary, where it is awaiting a post-mortem examination.

During the investigation, police established that Mutiso is a serving officer attached to the GSU training school but had not been reporting to work for several days.

“We had to get the name, then we checked if that person exists within the training school, which we found that he was one of the staff at GSU training school, but he has absconded duty for the last either 10 or 20 days,” said Owuoth.

Friends of the deceased painted a picture of a troubled relationship and alleged repeated incidents of abuse.

Anne Munene, a friend of the deceased, said the suspect was violent and controlling.

“The guy Ann was dating was very toxic; there was a time he was beating her, and we asked Ann to walk away from that relationship,” she said.

Munene also claimed the suspect attempted to deflect blame after the incident.

“By the way, the guy called Anne’s sister, told her that he found Ann with Ojwang in the house, and the time he said he found the two, we were actually in the house, seated making stories,” she said.

Wamboi also raised concerns about a possible attempt to frame another individual.

“There is an ID that was left at the house of a guy called Ojwang, and I am suspecting the suspect wanted to implicate Ojwang,” she said.

According to Wamboi, the couple had ongoing conflicts, including alleged destruction of the deceased’s phone on multiple occasions.

“Her phone was destroyed three times in a span of one month,” she said.

The apartment caretaker, Gakii Nyaga, said the deceased had lived in the building for about five months.