Two months after the gruesome murder of a 32-year-old Nyeri-based businessman Daniel Mwangi Wangond’u, police have established that his father, Stephen Wangond’u Kinini paid the murderers Ksh160,000 to kill his son.
A statement from the Directorate of Criminal Investigation on Tuesday stated detectives managed to piece together evidence into the gruesome murder of the businessman.
So far, five suspects have been arrested and arraigned at the Nyeri Law Courts on account of murder.
Mwangi was found dead and his body dumped at the gate of his home in Wedinga village, Mweiga, Nyeri County on New Year. Nothing was robbed from him and his vehicle was found abandoned at his gate.
“So puzzling was the motive behind his murder that nothing had been stolen from him or his house, not even his Volkswagen Golf car beside which he lay lifeless,” DCI said in the statement.
Mweiga DCI officers had to rope in the expertise of Central Regional Criminal Investigations Officer, who took over the probe leading to the arrest of the suspects.
Turning their hope on forensics, detectives got crucial leads that got five people arrested on February 20.
The first suspect to be arrested was a driver, James Mahinda Mwangi who works for the victim’s father.
“James Mahinda Mwangi, driver to the deceased’s father was traced to Nairobi’s Githurai area and pounced. Upon interrogation, he led officers to Embu at Matakani area where two other suspects; Geoffrey Waturi and Eddy Kariuki Ngari were also arrested and the trio.
“Upon further investigations, detectives established that the three long-time friends had been hired by the deceased’s father; Stephen Wang’ondu Kinini on December 2020 to murder his son at a shillings 160,000 fee following a family feud,” the DCI stated.
Mahinda was first given Ksh20,000 to form a hit squad which is when he travelled to Embu to fetch his accomplices.
He briefed them on their mission and details of the deceased’s residence in Mweiga and went on to buy a murder weapon at a local hardware.
They then got into contact with a female accomplice, Charity Muchiri and waited for Mwangi in the dead of the night when they killed him.
Alongside the four suspects, the father was arrested as police track down one Raphael Wachira who is said to have had a hand in the murder.
The Prosecution team asked the court for more days to complete investigations, a plea which the court granted.
