The injuries sustained by the Kianjokoma brothers leading to
their death in Embu in August 2021 are not consistent with police claims that
they fell from a moving vehicle, a court heard on Wednesday.
A pathologist who testified in the matter, said both Benson
Ndwiga and his brother Emmanuel Ndwiga, died from severe head injuries caused
by blunt force trauma.
The witness, whom the court asked not to be named for safety
reasons, said both bodies had fragmental skulls fractures which could not have
been the case had they fallen from a moving vehicle.
“Jumping from a moving vehicle would most likely occasion impact on a particular part of the body, the [part that lands first on the ground]. From our conclusion, we found that the cause of death was not consistent with the history that was provided,” the witness said.
The pathologist was testifying in a case where six police
officers have been charged with the murder of the Kianjokoma brothers on the
night of August 1 into the morning of August 2, 2021.
Those charged are Benson Mputhia, Consolata Kariuki, Nicholas
Cheruyoit, Martin Wanyama, Lilian Chemuna and James Mwaniki.
The officers were allegedly enforcing Covid-19 curfew rules
at the time. It is alleged that they were arrested for contravening the health
safety regulations but jumped out of a moving police land rover to escape
arrest.
The police claim the jump was fatal.
But the pathologist in her testimony at the Milimani High
Court in Nairobi on Wednesday said autopsy results showed otherwise.
During the postmortem conducted at the Embu Level Five Referral
Hospital, it was established that both had facial and skull deformities. The
pathologist said they had multiple rib fractures with Emmanuel was found
bleeding from both ears and the nose.
The postmortem was conducted on August 5, three days after the
tragedy happened.
“Emmanuel’s hair was blood stained and he had a dislocated
right shoulder with surrounding abrasion. His body had multiple injuries
secondary to blunt force trauma,” the pathologist said.
Defence lawyers however sought to dissuade the notion that
the injuries established are not consistent with having fallen from a moving
vehicle.
Lawyer Danstan Omari asked the pathologist to confirm that
it was possible for someone jumping from a moving police landrover to hit the
ground and roll several times thereby sustaining multiple fractures.
The pathologist however stood her ground, saying there would
be injuries but not in the manner sustained by the two brothers.
Lawyer Cliff Ombeta also asked the pathologist whether the
injuries were consistent with body having come into contact with a rough
surface.
“The injuries are consistent with body coming into contact
with a rough surface but it would be more of a depressed fracture as opposed to
fragmented fractures,” the pathologist said.
“We all agree that a tarmac road is a rough surface, right,”
the lawyer asked and the witness said yes.
Earlier in 2022, the court heard that Benson, the elder of
the two brothers, may have sacrificed his life in an attempt to save his
younger brother before they were both killed.
Chris Dan Murimi, a childhood friend of both Benson and
Emmanuel told court that he saw Benson going back to rescue his younger brother
as police armed with a long wooden stick approached them.
Murimi said he, Benson, Emmanuel and another friend
identified as John Mugendi were walking back home on August 1, 2021 when they
saw a police land cruiser.
Benson was the first to spot the police vehicle and he
alerted them.
Shortly after, the court heard that a police officer who was
standing beside the car charged at them, and they decided to run away.
“As we were running, Emmanuel tripped, I looked back and saw
him down. Then I saw Benson holding back, then he went back to the direction
where Emmanuel was,” Murimi said.
When asked why they decided to run from the said police
officer, Murimi said it was because the one who was running towards them “was
huge, masculine and he was approaching them in an aggressive manner “carrying a
huge wooden stick”.
Asked why he believed the man with a wooden stick was a
police officer, Murimi explained that it was because he was standing beside the
land cruiser.
He told court that claims that the two brothers jumped off a
police car could not be true.
Asked to clarify his statement, the witness said because of
the brothers’ characters, he does not believe that they jumped.
“They are not capable of jumping out of a police vehicle. I know their character.”
