Detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) have arrested a 38-year-old man from Githurai Kimbo over his girlfriend’s killing.
Evans Karani is accused of murdering 25-year-old Catherine Nyokabi in Witeithie area, Juja in Kiambu County on Wednesday, April 14.
Juja Sub-County Directorate of Criminal Investigations Officer (DCIO), Richard Mwaura, told Nai Haps, Karani attempted to discard Nyokabi’s body, but his efforts were thwarted by mother nature.
While transporting Nyokabi’s body in his car, Karani’s vehicle got stuck in mud on Bob Harris road in Juja, forcing him to flee, leaving the body and car behind, the DCI said.
Police, who arrived at the scene following a report by locals, verified the car ownership from the National Transport and Safety Authority’s Registrar of Motor Vehicles. A hunt for Karani was, consequently, launched by a multi-agency team comprising police, DCI officers and the agency’s Crime Research and Intelligence Bureau (CRIB) officers.
On Friday morning, April 16, detectives, via phone signal, tracked down Karani to his rented house in Githurai Kimbo area, where he was arrested.
The authorities said Nyokabi’s body had been burnt using a corrosive chemical.
“She was badly disfigured. Besides the burn injuries, she had bruises on the face and head,” a sleuth privy to the investigations told Nai Haps.
“It appears she was tortured before being killed,” added the detective.
Authorities said the suspect confessed to killing Nyokabi, a hotel worker in Kahawa Wendani, following a bitter conflict, which they had been embroiled in for the past two weeks.
Mr Karani, who runs a transport business and doubles up as a sand broker in Ndarugo, had dated 24-year-old Nyokabi, a mother of one, for nearly four years but their relationship had been rocked with claims of infidelity with Mr Karani accusing Ms Nyokabi of having an affair with another man.
Desperate and feeling betrayed, Mr Karani reportedly told detectives that, early last week before the murdered happened, he had unsuccessfully tried to convince Ms Nyokabi to delete a photo of the alleged new lover from her phone because it was hurting him.
Mr Karani allegedly said Ms Nyokabi refused to do so, and this is when he started hatching a plan to kill her.
He said his first intention was to kill the alleged lover but he later changed his mind. Mr Karani is married to another woman.
After killing her, Mr Karani told police, that he tried to commit suicide by taking poison but this did not work. When the pain become unbearable, he bought a packet of milk and drank it, inducing vomiting.
He later told a close friend that he had killed Ms Nyokabi and that the act was haunting him. The friend called the police who traced the suspect to his hideout in Githurai Kimbo.
Karani was arraigned in court on Monday, April 19, where detectives asked for more time to detain him longer to allow for investigations to be completed.
