Machakos County police commander Karanja Muiruri displays two AK-47 rifles recovered in Katani, Mavoko, yesterday. PHOTO | NATION
KENYA. A man who hired hitmen to kill his lover was also left with bullet injuries in a mysterious case of poetic justice.
Initially employed as a family driver, the man had fallen in love with his boss’ daughter and was together they lived as husband and wife. On Wednesday, he told police how he planned the killing of his lover. He, however, did not give any motive.
The driver had initially told officers he was driving into his compound in Katani, Machakos County, with his “wife” Purity Wanjiru on Saturday night when two gunmen on a motorcycle attacked them as his mother-in-law Ann Katita was opening the gate.
The gunmen, he said, first shot Mrs Katita in the head and turned on Ms Wanjiru, who they also shot in the head before escaping with their purses.
The driver alleged he was shot in the leg but that he managed to drive himself to Shalom Hospital – 20 kilometres away – for treatment.
But the case would have gone cold, had one of the hitmen, an instructor at the General Service Unit (GSU) training school in Embakasi, not sought medical attention for gunshot wounds he suffered during the attack.
Investigators told the Daily Nation that while the GSU man was being treated on Tuesday at a clinic in Komarock estate in Nairobi, the attendants secretly notified police officers from Kayole Police Station of a patient they were treated for gunshot wounds.
Minutes later, the officers arrived and the patient could not explain how he sustained the bullet wounds. He was arrested and handed over to the DCI.
It is said he finally cracked late in the evening after hours of questioning. He agreed to lead the officers to Kambi estate in Katani.
What the detectives did not know is that they had on their hands a police officer-cum-hardcore criminal who has been behind several crimes, including another shooting at Wilson Airport in July.
The confession
This confession led the officers to Katani and culminated in the shooting dead of a second suspect.
By last night, detectives were combing the estate in search of a third suspect who escaped when they raided a house in the area and shot dead the 24-year-old suspect.
The 24-year-old was challenged to surrender by more than 30 DCI and Flying Squad officers who arrived at his father’s home at 6:00am after being led there by the GSU officer.
The home is just a stone’s throw away from the house where the two women were shot dead on Saturday night.
One of the men who were inside the compound jumped over the fence, dropping an AK-47 rifle in the process while another started shooting at the officers who shot and killed him.
His parents have been arrested for not notifying the police about the criminal activities of their son and the presence of firearms in their compound.
The suspect and his accomplices have been living in a tiny cubicle attached to his parent’s bungalow sitting on a quarter-acre piece of land. Two loaded AK-47 rifles and masks were recovered from the house.
DCI head of operations Danson Ndilu, who was leading the operation, termed it a major breakthrough in the fight against crime.
Shooting
“The special crime prevention unit was notified of a civilian seeking treatment over a bullet lodged in his body.
‘‘We managed to arrest the suspect who gave us crucial links to the murder of two women. Police officers involved in crime will not be spared,” said Mr Ndilu.
Meanwhile, it is turning out the man who hired the hitmen and Wanjiru had fallen out weeks before the shooting.
The driver had even been kicked out of the palatial home and the two were supposed to have a reconciliation meeting on the night Mrs Katita and her daughter were killed.
Neighbours have told the police they did not hear a motorbike near the home on the night of the shooting and detectives are now trying to find out if the driver was involved in his estranged wife’s shooting.
Wanjiru’s mother is a well-known businesswoman in Mlolongo, running a string of alcohol distribution stores.
She financed the two lover’s lifestyle, including building a mansion for them in Katani early this year.
