General

DCI boss pleads for information after Starlet Wahu’s brutal murder

Starlet Wahu Mwangi, the younger sister of Prophet Victor Kanyari. PHOTO |COURTESY

Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) boss has pleaded with anyone who has information about John Matara, the main suspect in the murder of a Ms Starlet Wahu, to report to the police.

In a statement, the DCI boss, Mr Mohamed Amin, said that any witnesses and victims of Matara should record statements with detectives.

“As we commend those who have since taken the bold step of reporting their dreadful encounters with Matara and/or members of his suspected gang, we encourage more witnesses of such brutality and monstrous attacks to come out and record statements with our detectives,” the statement read in part.

This comes just days after two women recorded statements with the police narrating how Matara assaulted them before demanding ransom and fleeing, leaving them nursing wounds.

One of the women who spoke to Nairobi News in confidence said that she was Matara’s victim in May 2023 and since then, she has been seeking justice in vain. She said that she reported the matter to Kahawa Sukari Police Station.

Another victim said that Matara has been threatening her and the father, telling them that if they dare report the matter to the police, then he will ensure that he ends the life of the lady.

Police say that the investigations currently showed that Matara was a serial sexual offender who has been thriving on blackmailing victims.

The statement revealed that the suspect is part of a criminal ring “that targets women on dating sites and other social media applications.”

“Meanwhile, the DCI commits to painstakingly investigate this brutal murder of such a young Kenyan, and at the same time caution members of the public to beware of such felons in the guise of lovers, who promise heaven but unleash hell on those who fall for their plot,” it further read.

Ms Wahu’s body was discovered in the morning of Thursday, January 4, 2023, on the fourth floor of an Airbnb room Y32 at an apartment known as Papino located in Nairobi South B Estate.

The guard of the building then alerted the owner of the Airbnb that a man whose clothes was soaked with blood was leaving her premises.

It is then that the owner, identified as Ms Florence Ngina, rushed to the house and used a spare key to open the door only to stumble on the body of Ms Wahu lying in the living room.

From the apartment, MMatara reached out to a friend identified as Mr Anthony Nyongesa, who took him to Mbagathi Hospital, where they were both nabbed by sleuths attached to DCI.