Stephen Wang’ondu, a business from Nyeri who was accused of orchestrating his son’s murder – Daniel Mwangi – is dead.
Wang’ondu, 74, died at the outspan hospital in Nyeri where he was receiving treatment.
Wang’ondu had since February this year been in remand following his arrest. He was released on a Ksh1 million cash bail on April 28 by Nyeri High Court judge Justice Florence Muchemi.
In his release, the court directed that he lodge his passport with the court and appear for court hearings after every 30 days.
Wang’ondu according to investigations allegedly killed his son after getting into an intimate relationship with his daughter-in-law who was estranged from Mwangi.
Mwangi’s wife moved from their house and moved into her father-in-law’s house. She had been living there.
Wang’ondu paid a sum of Ksh160,000 for his son’s murder. He gave his driver James Mahinda a down payment of Ksh20,000 to execute the murder on December 31, 2020.
Mahinda contacted his two friends from Embu Geoffrey Waturi and Eddy Kariuki Ngari who joined him in executing the murder.
They dumped Mwangi’s body near his gate in the wee hours of the night, only to be discovered the following morning.
“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.
It also emerged that Wang’ondu killed his son with the motive to demand compensation from an insurance company where his son had a life policy.
Investigations by the DCI found out that Wang’ondu made an insurance claim only 12 days after the gruesome murder of his son on New Year’s Eve.
DCI details that after Mwangi’s burial on January 6, 2021, his father made his claim on January 18.
DCI also found out that in 1995, Wang’ondu’s then 18-year-old son Emmanuel Thuita died under mysterious circumstances.
He was at the time a Form Three student at Giakanja Secondary School in Nyeri. He is reportedly said to have drowned to death in a dam within his father’s farm in Mweiga.
Wang’ondu moved with speed to his insurance company for compensation and was paid millions of shillings.
DCI was probing if this was the same plot he was eyeing when he allegedly ordered his son’s death.
So far, Wang’ondu and four other suspects including his driver James Mahinda are in custody.
