It is cristal clear to every Kenyan who Ms Judy Wangui Mungai is. Well, if you still don’t remember, she is a woman believed to be the mistress of a man (Kori) whose wife (Ms.Wambui) was killed in Nairobi two weeks ago. Wangui who is a key suspect in the murder case will be charged with murder, police sources said on Monday. She will be expected to be arraigned on Wednesday alongside car hire businessman Michael Githae Mathenge, who reportedly confessed his role in the killing of Ms Mary Wambui, the wife of Mr Joseph Kori.
Evidence based on witness accounts and CCTV footage shows that Ms Wambui and Ms Wangui shared a hearty afternoon at Homeland Inn, off Thika Road, before leaving for Fourways Junction in Ms Wambui’s car at sunset. It is not clear how and why the two women decided to go to Ms Mungai’s residence, and this will be a key factor in establishing whether the murder was premeditated.
The two will appear before Kiambu Senior Principal Magistrate Stella Atambo, who had granted detectives 14 days to complete their investigations. If convicted, they face the death penalty. Mr Mathenge, a resident of Ruaka, runs a car hire business in the city centre.
Mr Mathenge told the police, that Ms Mungai had earlier in the day called him promising him a job later that night. When he arrived at Fourways, he told police, he declined to give her a helping hand in disposing of the body. He said she blackmailed him, threatening to call security on him and implicate him in the murder. He also said he was not paid for the job. Investigators used cell phone data and car-tracking solutions to conclude that Mr Kori was not at Fourways Junction at the time of the murder.
A fight ensued, Mr Mathenge said, and the two wrestled over a knife, which Ms Mungai wanted to use to stab her rival, before the suspect rushed to the kitchen, grabbed a pressure cooker and hit Ms Wambui with it on the head. The knife is part of the items that police found at Ms Wangui’s residence and forwarded for forensic examination. The pressure cooker has not been found after it was thrown in a thicket along the Ruiru-Kiambu road.
Mr Mathenge said when Ms Wambui screamed for help, Ms Mungai suffocated her to death, dragged the body to the kitchen, and wrapped it in bedding. A post-mortem report shows that she was hit with a blunt object nine times and suffered internal bleeding to the brain. Detectives suspect that the cooker and the carpet, which are missing, may have been later retrieved by a passer-by either for sale or for use.