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The Nairobian

New twist in Olympic champion Samuel Wanjiruâ€™s death as Chief Pathologist Johansen Oduor says he was killed by blunt object

Nairobi

By Fred Makena | Feb 10, 2015

Kenya: The late Olympic marathon champion Samuel Kamau Wanjiru was murdered according to a former chief government pathologist, who conducted post-mortem on his body.

Dr Moses Njue, who led a team of four doctors in conducting the post-mortem, told an inquest that Wanjiru was hit by a blunt object.

The former chief pathologist testified that Wanjiru was hit with a blunt object after he had jumped or been pushed off the balcony of his home, in the exclusive Muthaiga Estate, Nyahururu on the night of May 16,2011.

“I am convinced that the deceased was independently hit by another person after he had fallen off the balcony. The injury on the head was independently inflicted and not from the fall as a result of a heavy flat object with a maximum velocity,” he said.

An inquest was established to know cause of his death, owing to the controversial circumstances that left questions on whether the late world champion was killed or he committed suicide.

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Dr Njue presented the post-mortem, which was conducted at the Lee Funeral Home, 12 days after the athlete died.

Wanjiru, prior to his death, left his training camp in Eldoret on a Saturday after which he stopped for rounds of drinks and a cheery session with friends in Nakuru.

Dr Njue said according to the pattern of his falling, Wanjiru sustained serious injuries on the palm of his hands and knees, which indicated that he fell on his fours.

“The injuries on his palms and knees can only mean that he fell like a cat. It was not possible for the deceased to have fallen then rebounded back to sustain such serious injuries on the head,” Dr Njue testified.

He said they visited the home and took measurements from the ground up to the balcony where he is said to have plunged off.

“We were not convinced that the deceased died after falling from the balcony since the maximum height he could have fallen from was 14 feet, yet he was five feet and four inches tall. For a height to have a significant effect that can generate momentum to kill, it must have been three to four times the height of the deceased,” Dr Njue told the inquest.

He said there was injury on the right cheek showing forced imprints on the skin while the back of the head was swollen with a mass collection of blood and the skull was split into two.

“The injuries on the head might have been independently inflicted and not from the fall. The injuries on the head were massive and could have caused the death of the deceased,” he testified.

He further said the neck had no injuries but the chest had a large bruise on the whole of the left side.

“There were injuries on the chest associated with a fall on the height,” he said.

The pathologist discredited an earlier report suggesting that Wanjiru had committed suicide.