Last ride to death: Police investigate brutal murder of taxi driver
A taxi driver was found hacked to death and his body was dumped near his car in Riakiania village, Kirinyaga County on Tuesday, April 30.
Residents stumbled upon the body of the 35-year-old man at dawn and called the police.
Officers from Baricho Police Station rushed to the scene and took the body to the mortuary for a post-mortem examination.
Kirinyaga West police commander Moses Koskei said the deceased, James Muriuki, was plying the Riakiania-Kagumo route before his death.
“Upon receiving the report, we immediately rushed to the scene and found the taxi driver lying dead beside his car,” Mr Koskei said, adding that police were investigating the incident to establish the motive behind the heinous act.
“We are treating the matter as a murder and we want to know who killed him and why,” he said.
Residents described the deceased as a good man who was taken too soon.
“He is a young man who was kind and hardworking, it is sad that he was killed,” said one of the residents, Mr Peter Migwi.
Before the gruesome murder, the deceased was seen at a social venue on Monday evening.
Residents demanded that detectives get to the bottom of the matter and expose the killers.
“Those who murdered Muriuki should be unearthed and brought to book,” said Mr Hesbon Wachira.
The family said they were crying out for justice following the death of their son.
“I want those who brutally murdered my son to be traced, arrested and prosecuted so that justice is done,” said Ms Wambura Gatogo, the deceased’s mother.