TV news anchor Jacque Maribe is currently locked up at Gigiri police station following murder charges for being an accessory in the killing of Monica Nyawira Kimani, who was dead in her house in Kilimani, Nairobi, two weeks ago.
According to DCI’s assistant Jacinta Nyamosi, said Ms Maribe could also face charges related to illegal handling of a firearm after a nine millimetre live bullet was recovered in her bedroom.
She further said she could face a charge of murder or being an accessory to murder, subject to the completion of investigations. The news anchor could also have crucial information that might help in solving the puzzle of Ms Kimani’s murder.
Ms Maribe and her fiancé Joseph Irungu have been described as prime suspects in the gruesome murder
Mr Irungu was last week presented before Kiambu Senior Principal Magistrate Stella Atambo, who allowed police to continue holding him at Gigiri Police Station for 10 days as investigations continue.
Mr Brian Kassaine, a mutual friend and neighbour of Mr Irungu and Ms Maribe at Royal Park Estatewas also arrested on suspicion that he could be an accomplice after it emerged that Mr Irungu used his gun in an alleged attempted suicide.
He was among those who took Mr Irungu to hospital after he shot himself in the chest inside Ms Maribe’s house.
Kiambu Principal Magistrate Justus Kituku on Monday allowed police to detain Ms Maribe and Mr Kassaine for 11 days to facilitate investigations, which include having some of the items recovered in the journalist’s house taken for forensic and ballistic examination.
Ms Nyamosi said the results will guide the investigating team on what charges to prefer against the TV anchor, who interestingly was the one who broke the news about Ms Kimani’s murder after her body was recovered.
Detectives have placed Ms Maribe, who was arrested on Saturday night, at the centre of an attempt to cover-up the murder of Ms Kimani.
According to them, their investigations have not only established that she and Mr Irungu were together on the day of the murder, but also that some of the key exhibits in the incident were found in her house.
The items, according to chief lead investigator in the murder Maxwell Otieno, include a robe and a jacket worn by Mr Irungu on the day Ms Kimani was slaughtered inside her apartment shortly after arriving into the country from Juba, South Sudan, and which were partly burnt at Ms Maribe’s residence.
Police believe Ms Maribe knew about the attempt to conceal evidence by burning the garments. It is not clear yet whether she was in the house when the incineration occurred.
Further, her mobile phone, an iPhone 7+ loaded with a Safaricom Sim card, will be subjected to a forensic examination, with the police saying its report could contain crucial material in relation to the murder investigation.
The TV star was ferried to the Kiambu court precincts at around 8:30am in a Subaru Outback by four detectives.
Her case, in which she was represented by lawyer Katwa Kigen, was the first to be heard shortly after 9am.
Throughout the session, and in spite of the gravity of charges facing her, she appeared unmoved, staring blankly into the forest of cameras in front of her and every now and then attempting a faint smile.
Her family, led by her father Mwangi Maribe, was in court. Mr Maribe also sat through the court proceedings in the case against his daughter’s co-accused, Mr Kassaine, a few hours later.