• Two of the four were brothers and lived in the upmarket of Mlolongo in Syokimau in a classic home put up with the support of their mother, Lucy Wanjiru.
• Mwangi, the younger son, was a sound engineer and owned public address systems he hired out in the country and traded in music equipment he imported from China.
Following the brutal murder of four young men reportedly mistaken for cattle thieves in Kitengela last Sunday, it has emerged they were all well-off financially.
Two of the four were brothers and lived in the upmarket of Mlolongo in Syokimau in a classic home put up with the support of their mother, Lucy Wanjiru.
Wanjiru was a businesswoman in Nairobi until 2018 when she relocated to the UK to pursue other interests after building a home for her children.
Her only two children, Fred Mureithi and Victor Mwangi, did not depend on her after she left the country.
Her sons ventured into various businesses in the city, with the eldest son, a prominent graphic designer and animator, taking up major contracts at Kameme TV, even as he manned his shop in Nairobi.
Mwangi, the younger son, was a sound engineer and owned several public address systems he hired out. He also traded in music equipment, which he imported from China.
The Star profiles them below.
Fred Mureithi, 30
Mureithi was born on April 17, 1991, and after his primary school, he joined St Joseph’s Githunguri High School.
Upon completion of his studies in 2011, he enlisted for a graphic design course in Nairobi.
He went on to become an animator and a graphic designer and won several contracts at Kameme TV as an animator for cartoons.
Mureithi loved playing football and talked less, even when with friends.
His former schoolmate, Alex Musyoka, described him as “cool and disciplined” and a great artist.
He said he owned a printing shop on Munyu Road in Nairobi.
“Mureithi loves people, but cared most for his fiancé, whom he has left with a baby girl,” Musyoka said.
Victor Mwangi
Mwangi, born on August 8, 1996 in Nairobi, was killed on his bithaday, on which he had turned 25.
He attended various schools in Nairobi and after completing his high school education, he took a course in sound engineering.
With the support of his mother until 2018, had imported music equipment from China, which he traded in by selling and hiring out to churches and political rallies across the country.
He rode speed bikes around the country with his Rastafarian friends during his free time. He was not married at the time of his death.
Mike George (Spoiler)
George was a cousin to Fred and Victor and a close family friend. He died at 29 years.
He owned a tattoo shop on Ronald Ngala Road opposite Gloria Hotel in Nairobi. Most of his customers were local celebrities from Nairobi, Mombasa and Dar-es-Salaam.
Nicholas Musa (Nico)
Musa, 28, was employed by George in his tattoo shop. He was a family friend.
Meanwhile, Mureithi and Mwangi's mother is expected in the country on Sunday, according to her brother, Joseph Macharia.
Speaking from Syokimau, Macharia said Wanjiru will arrive on Sunday to start burial preparations.
Macharia said Wanjiru’s sons will be laid to rest in Leshau Pondo, Nyahururu, Laikipia county on either Friday or Saturday next week.
“The arrangement is that when my sister arrives in Nairobi on Sunday, we shall allow her to rest and engage in prayers for three days. On Wednesday, as a family, we will be able to fix the burial date,” Macharia said.
Post-mortem
A post-mortem examination at the Nairobi City Mortuary by chief government pathologist Johansen Oduor showed they suffered sharp object injuries that pierced into their heads.
Mureithi and his younger brother, Mwangi, left their home in Syokimau, Machakos county with George and Musa on Saturday riding on three motorbikes to Kisaju in Isinya town for merry-making.
The four were later killed on Sunday night after being mistaken for rustlers by unknown people, who police are now tracking.
Kajiado county police Commander Muthuri Mwongera said he was informed of the incident by Kitengela chief that four people riding on three motorbikes had been killed in his location.
“He said he found that their motorbikes had also been burnt and had no number plates on them and that the local people had suspected them to be rustlers,” Mwongera said.
Mwongera said the four were subjected to mob injustice before they were heard.
“It is unfortunate that we will never get to hear their part of the story, now that they are all dead but we have handed this case to DCI to unravel it. They need to get to the bottom of it so that the truth can prevail,” Mwongera said.
The killings took place at Enkamuriaki village in Kitengela ward.
