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Preacher to now face trial for Magu family ‘cult’ deaths

By ERIC WAINAINA September 14th, 2018 2 min read

A preacher who was charged with killing city lawyer Paul Magu, his wife Lydia Wangui and their three children in a bizarre incident that shocked the country in 2015 has a case to answer.

Kiambu Principal Magistrate Justus Kituku on Friday ruled that he had established a prima facie case against Ms Ann Wanyoro whose trial begun in March 2016.

Ms Wanyoro had been charged that on diverse dates between 23rd and 25th November 2015 at Makongeni area in Thika, Kiambu, she procured Mr Muhiu to kill himself after he involved himself in a fatal accident after killing his family.

The charge is contrary to section 225 (a) of the penal code and can attract a life imprisonment if convicted.

Ms Wanyoro was also charged with having a hand in the deaths of Mr Magu, his wife and their children Allen Muhiu , 9, Ryan Ndau , 8, and Tiffany Muthoni.

CULT ACTIVITY

The deaths were linked to possible cult activity, with  police putting Ms Wanyoro at the heart of it.

The family was buried in one grave at Kimuchu Village in Juja, Kiambu County on December 10, 2014 in an emotional ceremony.

Mr Magu’s wife went missing on November 23, 2015 and her partially burnt body was later found dumped in a thicket at Paradise Lost along Kiambu Road.

After his wife’s disappearance, Mr Magu left home with his three children in their family car, but returned home hours later without them before proceeding to this rural village in Kijango, Thika the same day.

He was found dead two days later, a victim of a fatal accident near the Ngoliba Junction on the Thika–Garissa highway .

CLOSE FRIEND

During the hearing, witnesses said Ms Wanyoro was a close friend to the couple and had stayed at the family’s home for four days before the lawyer went missing.

Prior to the incident, she had been a regular visitor to the home and they used hold prayers.

Ms Margaret Njoki, who was the family’s house girl, said the pastor was a regular visited at the couple’s home and, told the court that after the wife’s disappearance, she heard Mr Magu telling the children that their mother had gone to Mr Wanyoro’s Showers of Praise Ministry.