An officer attached to Mlolongo police station may have unwittingly played a role in the abduction and brutal murder of human rights lawyer Willie Kimani and two others.
On Thursday, the prosecution introduced a mobile phone it suspects was used to plot the abduction and subsequent merciless murder of Kimani, his client Josphat Mwenda and taxi driver Joseph Muiruri on June 23, 2016.
Data records retrieved from a mobile phone company and tabled in court shows the phone was used to make 15 calls between 9am and noon by a suspect known as Brown.
Richard Nyakundi, an officer still working at Mlolongo police station and who owns the phone, took the stand as a prosecution witness to explain how Brown ended up using his phone.
Brown, according to the prosecution, is a police informer who is facing charges alongside Fredrick Leliman, Leonard Maina, Silvia Wanjiku and Stephen Chebulet.
The prosecution claims his real name is Peter Ngugi Kamau. But it found itself in a tight spot after Nyakundi told the trial judge that the ‘Brown’ who used his phone was not among the accused.
Four Police officers and an informer on the left charged with murdering lawyer Willy Kimani his client and a taxi driver at the Milimani law court on Tuesday,March 28 in the ongoing hearing of the murder case.Photo/COLLINS KWEYU
Three times Nyakundi was told to slowly and carefully try to identify Brown from the five accused persons, but he maintained his stand that the Brown he knew was not in court.
Nyakundi said he met Brown through Leliman. “Brown was tall and built. I can identify him if I see him today. He is not here,” he said.
The prosecution argues that Ngugi, whom it says is Brown, and the four officers murdered Kimani, Mwenda and Muiruri on June 23 last year, the day Brown used the mobile phone.
“I have two phones, I use one for my Safaricom line and the other one for Airtel. I removed my sim card and gave it to him. He returned it at about noon” Nyakundi said.
Four months later officers from Flying Squad went for him to recover the phone.