Cops arrest suspect over killing of university girl
The prime suspect in the July 12 murder of 23-year-old university student Christine Ambani was yesterday arrested in Chokaa area in Ruai, Nairobi County.
Innocent Kalio Makokha, who was the deceased’s boyfriend, lured her to her death in a hotel room.
Two weeks ago, the suspect allegedly murdered Ambani, a student at Kiriri Women’s University of Science and Technology, whose body was found in a hotel room in Githurai. She had deep stab wounds on the neck.
On the fateful day, the deceased met the boyfriend in Githurai before they booked a room.
She was not to stay for long as she was to sit some examinations in the afternoon, according to the detectives.
She did not leave as intended and the suspect paid for a night long stay. It is during the night that the suspect is said to have stabbed her to death.
According to police, he then took Ambani’s phone and logged into her family WhatsApp group.
“Posing as Christine, he sent a message asking family members to send her Sh87,000 claiming she wanted to refund her boyfriend (Makokha) the money he had spent to help her settle in college,” the DCI said.
Three days after Ambani had been killed, the suspect still demanded money.
Unknown to them as they desperately looked for money, the body of their kin was at the City Mortuary where it had been taken on the night of July 12 and booked as an unknown female adult. The body bore signs of torture and her throat had been slit.
Makokha, a student at Mt Kenya University, had sent the family the photo of the deceased while dressed in the same clothes she had when she disappeared. He made it look like like a gang had abducted her.
“The first message we received in the group was introducing us to my sister by someone who claimed she had their money, they even sent us a screenshot of some M-Pesa message of how they had sent my sister Sh87,000,” the deceased’s sister said.
Message doctored
She, however, added that the message appeared doctored (edited) as the transaction cost was more than it is supposed to be.
At one point, they sent the caller Sh5,000 through the deceased’s phone but when the family asked to speak to their kin, the abductors refused. They had already killed her.
“They said they were with her and threatened to kill her if we did not send the money.
The person even sent us a photo of her in some unknown house. We have seen her body and the clothes she had in the photo are the same ones she has at the mortuary,” her sister told People Dailywhen they visited the mortuary.
Yesterday at around 2am, detectives from the DCI’s Special Services Unit (SSU) raided a room that he had rented in Chokaa area within Kayole and arrested him.
Makokha had earlier been arrested in connection with the murder of his brother, his wife and their one-year-old baby by setting their house on fire, according to police.
The matter was investigated by Mumias Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) and the file forwarded to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP).
The DPP, however, ordered for a public inquest but even before the inquest started, Makokha attacked his grieving family members and destroying property.
He was arrested, charged and remanded at Kakamega GK Prison but the case was again withdrawn.
