Joseph Irungu Kuria was arrested on Tuesday as a suspect in the murder of Monica Kimani.
Irungu was arrested after Ms. Kimani’s neighbour identified him as the man who was last seen in her apartment a day before she returned from South Sudan where she works.
According to the detectives investigating the matter, Mr Irungu’s phone data had shown that he was at Ms Kimani’s house at Luciane Apartments along Dennis Pritt Road and they had been communicating for quite a long time.
The two have also been identified to have been college mates back in the day and had cordial relationship even after meeting at the UAE where Irungu is said to be working.
According to a statement by two witnessesa day before Ms Kimani was found dead a man who identified himself as Joe arrived at the house dressed in a white kanzu and a cap with grey and blue colours.
In addition, the two also said that when ‘Joe’ arrived, went to the kitchen and returned with a glass of wine to the living room where he sat and was constantly on phone.
They said he rarely talked, but the interaction with the host showed that they were close.
After a few minutes with ‘Joe’ and Ms Kimani at the A8 apartment located on the third floor, the witnesses said, they (witnesses) left.
Police have since established that Joe, who had identified himself at the gate as Dominic Kamau, left the apartment at 2.24am on Thursday using a white car.
Ms Kimani’s brother George Thiru would then discover her body on Thursday after he failed to reach her on phone.
“When I went to her apartment, I knocked at the door but there was no response, so I decided to break the door. I found her in the bathtub, dead,” Said Mr Thiru told the Nation, adding that Ms Kimani’s hands had been tied at the back and her throat slit.
An analysis of Joseph Kuria’s call data showed that it remained switched off till 3pm on Thursday.
On Friday morning though, he went to the Langata Police Station and reported that he had been shot by gunmen as he exited the Royal Park Estate where he had dropped his fiancé, Citizen TV anchor Jackie Maribe.
Mr Irungu told police that he encountered three men who shot him and sped off using a motorbike. He had a gunshot wound on left side of his chest, just below the shoulders.
In his statement, Mr Irungu said he went to Lang’ata Hospital for treatment the same evening, and that he was admitted till Monday morning.
Although police took his statement, he became a person of interest because his phone signals had shown he was at Ms Kimani’s house on the day she was murdered.
Police also questioned why no cartridge had been recovered from the scene, why he was not operated at all to remove bullet shrapnel from the calibre wound, and why all watchmen of apartments and offices near the alleged scene of shooting did not hear a gunshot or commotion.
The suspect took selfies of the ‘gunshot wound’ and shared them on social media.