Police nab prime suspect in Jennifer Wambua murder
Investigators from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) have revealed shocking details on how National Land Commission (NLC) official Jennifer Wambua was murdered.
And one Peter Mwangi Njenga, alias Ole Sankale, the prime suspect has since been placed at the scene of the crime by forensic evidence as well as witnesses who saw him with the deceased the last time she was seen alive on March 12, 2021.
Through criminal intelligence, detectives repeatedly combed the crime scene and managed to pick crucial exhibits, which were marked, packaged, and presented for forensic examination.
“The forensic results are finally out, positively matching the suspect. Following detailed forensic and intelligence-led investigations, detectives established that the suspect had indeed interacted and spent quite some time with the deceased at the location where the body was later discovered,” said DCI.
Mwangi was arrested last month by homicide detectives from his house in Embulbul in Ngong, Kajiado County.
Embulbul is close to the spot where Wambua’s body was found in a thicket in an open field at Kerarapon.
Mwangi allegedly trailed Wambua to Ngong Forest where she had gone to pray, with investigations establishing that he interacted and spent time with his victim at a location where her half-naked body was later discovered.
An autopsy conducted by government pathologist Johansen Oduor revealed there was sexual contact between Wambua and her killers.
“It was also established that the area is often visited by pilgrims for spiritual intentions. Detectives further established that the suspect preyed on the deceased as she prayed before he made his move to sexually assault her and strangle her to death,” said the DCI.
Authorities say Njenga “indeed interacted and spent quite some time with Wambua at the location where her body was later discovered.”
The investigation took a concerted effort by the DCI detectives, Crime Research and Intelligence Bureau (CRIB) officers, Cybercrime detectives, and the Special Service Unit (SSU) officers.
A probe into Mwangi’s criminal records showed that he committed similar offenses in the past, with detectives baffled by how the suspect won freedom despite being handed a death sentence in 2003.
“It was confirmed that the suspect was a jailbird. Our criminal data system was mined and indeed confirmed the suspect had committed similar offenses using the same modus operandi of committing robbery and thereafter repeatedly, sexually abusing the victims by raping and killing them,” DCI noted.
“For instance, in 1996, he was charged with stealing and was further charged three times with the offenses of robbery with violence and rape. On January 15th, 2003, he was convicted and sentenced to death at Kibera Senior Resident’s Magistrate Court. How he won his freedom remains a mystery, which the detectives are currently engaged in demystifying.”