Nairobi News

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Suspected gangster who allegedly robbed and killed tour van driver charged


A suspected gangster who allegedly robbed a tour van driver of the car and killed him along Nairobi-Nakuru highway before dumping his body in Ngong and escaping to Uganda was Monday charged with robbery with violence at the Makadara Law Courts.

Gideon Kariuki Macharia was charged with robbing Tirus Waiyaki Munyua of a motor vehicle worth Sh 3 million on December 21, 2019 after hiring him to take him to a church function in Salgaa in Nakuru county.

STOLEN CAR

He is accused of committing the offence jointly with an accomplice who is at large.

Macharia is also accused of stealing Peter Kariuki’s car in Kahawa West, Kasarani sub county of Nairobi. Kariuki was Munyua’s employer.

He had forged the car’s logbook long before posing as a customer to Munyua claiming he was headed to the function and there were others to be picked along the way to Salgaa.

The suspect was arrested by Ugandan police in Kampala who suspected him after he offered the car for sale at a ridiculous price.

The officers got suspicious after receiving information that Macharia was selling the car at a throw away price They posed as customers to trap him.

The vehicle was handed over to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations last year.

Macharia was staying at a hotel where he had checked in on December 22, 2020 where the Ugandan police officers recovered Munyua’s national ID and travel documents among other personal items from his room.

BODY FOUND

The suspect is also charged with making a document without authority after forging Kariuki’s car’s logbook. He was found with the fake logbook which he intended to use in the sale of the car.

Macharia left Kahawa West with a client who wanted to be taken to Nakuru and after an agreement with Munyua and his boss.

He later talked to his boss at around 8pm and that was his last communication before his body was found in Ngong.

Kariuki reported to Kahawa West Police Post after Munyua’s phone went unanswered before it was switched off and the same was escalated to the DCI offices at Kasarani police station.

Munyua’s phone was traced to Ngong and his body was later discovered by a herder near a school in the same area.

Macharia was brought back to Nairobi last week. He denied the robbery charges before Senior Principal Magistrate Angelo Kithinji.

He was freed on a Sh 1 million bond with a surety of similar amount.