There was drama on Thursday at Nyeri high court as details emerged of how a 21-year-old girl hired five men to kill boyfriend.
The court was told that Ms Esther Wambui, a student at Utalii College in Nairobi, masterminded the murder of her lover Dennis Okumu who was a matatu tout in Githurai.
Justice Abigail Mshilla heard that Ms Wambui together with her mother Rosemary Nyawira and a family member Michael Muriuki killed Mr Okumu on the night of February 3 and 4, 2018 within Karatina Township.
His mutilated body was dumped at Kirimara in Mathira East sub-county. The body had five stab wounds in the neck, his eyes had been gouged out and some of his front teeth were missing, the court heard.
“The family had hired five assailants to discipline the deceased but it turned tragic and they ended up killing him,” said Mr Odhiambo in his evidence while being cross-examined by State Counsel Emma Gicheha.
After killing the 23-year-old tout, the detective said, mother and daughter paid Mr Muriuki, a boda boda operator, Sh3,000 to dump the body in Kirimara.
The slain tout’s workmate, Mr George Otieno, testified that the couple was living in Zimmerman Estate but Dennis had co-rented a separate house with a friend in Githurai.
Before his death, he had been attacked and injured in Zimmerman Estate by a group of thugs that stormed Ms Wambui’s house.
“On February 1, 2018 Dennis came to the Githurai bus stage wearing a hoodie because he had a head injury. He told us he had been attacked by thugs at his girlfriend’s house in Zimmerman. He said he was hit on the head with a log of wood and fell unconscious,” testified Mr Otieno.
He stated that two days later, the deceased said he had been called by his lover seeking a reconciliation meeting to solve outstanding issues involving their love relationship.
The court heard that Dennis had financial constraints and his friends at the bus stage raised Sh500 to enable him travel to meet his wife.
Mr Otieno said Dennis, unaware of the set-up, travelled alongside his wife to Karatina Nyeri to have the reconciliation exercise presided by his mother-in-law.
The court heard Ms Wambui returned to the City alone and started asking whereabouts of the deceased, as she suggested that they had not travelled together to her rural home.