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Murder scene visit gives court leads in Jowie case

Thursday, June 16th, 2022 09:04 | By
Maxwell Otieno, an investigation officer in the Monica Kimani’s murder case, explains a point to Lady Justice Grace Nzioka at the crime scene. Looking on is lawyer Katwa Kigen, representing Jacque Maribe. PHOTO/Benard Orwongo

The High Court yesterday visited the scene where businesswoman Monica Kimani was murdered in 2018 to establish the context of statements and testimony adduced in court.

Journalist Jacque Maribe and Joseph Irungu alias Jowie are charged with the murder of Monica. Her body was found in a bathtub — the neck slit from ear to ear — at her Lamuria Gardens Apartment in Kilimani, off Dennis Pritt Road, on the night of September 19, 2018.

Justice Grace Nzioka was taken by the prosecution to Lamuria Gardens, Roadhouse Grill, where on the fateful night  Jowie was having drinks with friends, and to Citizen TV offices where Maribe worked.

The court also visited Royal Park Estate where Maribe lived with Jowie at the time.

In about four hours, the investigating officer, Chief Inspector Maxwell Otieno, took the court to the various scenes, alongside prosecution counsels and defense teams.

At Lamuria Gardens, the investigating officer showed the court the spot Jowie was dropped off by a taxi on September 19 at 8.30pm. “He was dropped here by a taxi (showing the gate of Lamuria Gardens), walked in and was attended to by the guard, where his details were taken.  He produced an ID, which had different names of Dominic Bisera. It was stolen from Royal Park,” the officer told the judge.

Justice Grace Nzioka heard that the guards believed the names in the ID were Jowie’s correct names, as he had been there before on September 1 and went to Monica’s apartment.

The judge, the prosecution and the defence team went to Monica’s apartment to ascertain the house number and later visited  Roadhouse Grill, which is a 100 meters from Lamuria Gardens.

“The first accused (Jowie) was here on the evening of September 19 at around 4pm .He was joined by his friends ... He later left in a hurry at around 8pm, after incurring a bill of Sh3,000. He was driving   Maribe’s car,” the investigating officer told the judge, at the Roadhouse Grills scene.

“He didn’t wait to finish his drink; he left in a hurry ... he wore a brown short ,a red cap and a T-shirt. While he was driving to this place, he put on a jacket,” the investigating officer narrated.

At Citizen TV scene, Maribe’s lawyer Katwa Kigen said she was an employee there and, at the time of Monica’s murder, was at her work station. “I want the court to take note of the approximate distance from here to Roadhouse Grill and Lamuria Gardens  because Safaricom’s mast had Maribe’s data near Lamuria Gardens,” said Kigen.

At Royal Park Estate, investigating officer Otieno showed the spot an ID card belonging to a casual labourer was stolen. It is the prosecution’s case that Jowie used the said ID card to access Lamuria Gardens.

“All casual laborers go through the gate and leave their ID there. When Jowie was exiting, he was not able to get his ID. It was later traced to Lamuria Gardens,” said the officer. Otieno said the security guards at Royal Park described Jowie as abrasive, and would sometimes refuse to be searched saying he worked with a security agency.

At Maribe’s house, the officer told the judge that they made recoveries of a number of clothes and live ammunition.

As they progressed with investigations, Maribe’s neighbour, Brian Kasaine, whose gun Jowie used to shoot himself, said that Jowie had that night called him to ask for paraffin or anything inflammable.

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