John Karue, the man accused of killing his wife is surely a wealthy man if reports from his friends and close family members are anything to go by. This is a man who threw lavish parties, drives high end cars and of course runs Multi-million businesses.
It has also been said by his close friends that he was actively involved in church projects and made personal donations.
According to media reports, the girlfriend Judy Mungai, who he joined hands with to kill his wife Mary Wambui, 39. stayed in a rented house. She paid Sh60,000 per month.
Wambui, a mother of two, disappeared on January 26. Her body was found a day later at Courtesy Beach situated at Mugutha area in Juja.
On Tuesday, Karue and his girlfriend appeared before Kiambu senior principal magistrate Stella Atambo but did not take the plea. Detectives were allowed to hold them for 14 days to complete investigations.
Yesterday, police recovered Wambui’s missing vehicle near a dam in Juja. The Mercedes Benz is being held at Ngewa police post in Kwamaiko village, Githunguri subcounty.
Karue’s childhood friends at Kabui village in Kairuthi sublocation knew him as Mwangi Karue. They were surprised after his photo appeared in the media in relation to the murder.
“He participates in development projects and is the key person behind the construction of Kamatongu AIPCA Church. He’s attended several harambees,” a resident s
His former schoolmates at Kairuthi Primary in Iria-ini ward, Othaya, Nyeri, say he completed his primary school education in the 1990s, was never a bright child.
They say it is a mystery how his fortunes changed and he managed to accumulate immense wealth. Though he was born in Othaya, his family later moved to Mweiga in Kieni in the 1990s, about 30 kilometres away. His father was an education officer and his mother a bank teller.
The second born in a family of two boys and one girl is a licensed gun holder and at least three of his extended family members work in the armed forces. A resident said two of his uncles work with the DCI and one is a soldier. His younger brother is a police officer.
On his Facebook account, Karue says he is self-employed and studied Business Communications at Kenyatta University. But his friends say he started selling timber at Gikomba market, Nairobi, soon after he completed his secondary education.
One George Wambugu wrote on his Facebook page that the suspect was his schoolmate at Othaya’s Kenyatta High School, Mahiga, the class of 1999.
Another resident said Karue later joined the matatu sector and had some PSVs plying the Jogoo Road-Buruburu-town, Nairobi. He also supplied electric poles and his friends believe this could explain his wealth.
“We don’t know how he became suddenly rich. At 41, he is so rich and far-much ahead of his agemates,” one childhood friend said.
“He drives the latest top-of-the range vehicles. During the burial of Iria-ini MCA John Theuri’s father, he attended with a numberless brand new Toyota Land Cruiser V8.”
Karue’s wife drove a Mercedes and operated a hardware store in Kahawa West. Karue does not frequently visit his ancestral home in Othaya. The only house he has there is timber-walled. He owns a palatial home in Nakuru town near Afraha.
“No one else in his immediate family is as wealthy as he is,” one friend said.
He said Karue is an introvert, only shares his thoughts with people he knows so well.
About seven or eight years ago during Christmas, he threw a party to his Othaya village residents. Meat and alcohol were in plenty.