Embattled Tv journalist Jacque Maribe and her boyfriend Joseph Irungu alias Jowie, were presented at the Milimani Law Courts on Tuesday to take plea for the murder of MOnica Nyawira Kimani.
Earlier on, DPP Noordin Haji gave consent for the prosecution to charge the two with murder. According to Haji, there ‘exists a prima facie case to warrant criminal prosecution. ‘
It had been widely speculated that Ms Maribe would face the lesser charge of accessory to murder, but it appears investigators and prosecutors want to leave the job of determining the extent of culpability, if any, to the courts.
But why the u-turn from the detectives? We can now confirm that the police are aiming to use the evidence of Mr. Bryan Kassaine, the best friend of the two accused against them. This is according to the Nation.
The acquisition of a high value witness may also have given investigators and prosecutors confidence in their murder case. Mr Kassaine is Ms Maribe’s neighbour and a close friend of the couple.
It is likely that Director of Criminal Investigations George Kinoti will have used Mr Kassaine’s evidence to try and tie the two to the crime and what investigators have described as an attempted cover up.
It is not yet clear, when Kassaine, who is facing crimes of illegal possession of a firearm agreed to become a state witness, or the evidence he has provided the detectives.
The High Court has ordered the suspects to be detained until Monday after a mental assessment was ordered for the television journalist.
Ms Maribe will undergo the test at Mathari Hospital in Nairobi. Justice Jessi Lessit said the suspect cannot be called upon take plea without a mental examination.
Mr Irungu, whose hand was in a sling and was chewing gum while on the dock, will also get treatment for his gunshot wound.
His lawyer told the court that the arm is paralyzed and swollen as he produced a referral note from Nairobi Hospital to Kenyatta National Hospital. During an interview with NTV, Mr Irungu’s parents said police officers have denied him access to medical treatment since his arrest.
Investigators and prosecutors will be hoping that Mr Kassaine will help the court to identify the person or persons involved in the burning of the clothes, which they have characterised as the destruction of evidence and concealment of a crime.
Police and prosecutors will likely also be relying on Mr Kassaine to give evidence about his gun, a Ceska, which was used in an alleged suicide attempt by Mr Irungu inside Ms Maribe’s Royal Park Estate house on Friday, September 21, at around 1am. Yesterday, Nation sources said ballistics experts had confirmed that the bullet which injured Mr Irungu came from Mr Kassaine’s gun.