- In an affidavit by PC Benjamin Wangila who is the investigations officer, the Kirangu was first reported as a missing person by his brother Samuel Chege at Kahawa West.
- Police believe that Njomo may have been involved in the murder of his late friend Kiragu.
Image: ANNETTE WAMBULWA
A man who is alleged to have extorted money from his dead friend’s family abroad for close to three weeks without their knowledge has been detained for 21 days.
A Makadara court has allowed police to hold Stephan Karanja Njomo for three weeks to allow them complete investigations into the murder of his friend Victor Wangai Kiragu.
Police believe that Njomo may have been involved in the murder of his friend Kiragu.
In an affidavit by PC Benjamin Wangila who is the investigations officer, Kiragu was first reported as a missing person by his brother Samuel Chege at Kahawa West.
The family members began searching for him in various hospitals, prison facilities and mortuaries among other places within the city and finally on January 10, his body was traced at the KNH mortuary labeled unknown African male adult.
The information obtained from KNH indicated that the deceased was taken there as a referral case from St Francis Community Hospital on December 1 and was admitted there for specialised treatment until he succumbed on December 9.
The deceased family went back to Kahawa West to report the discovery of their relative's body at the KNH morgue and they were then referred to DCI Kasarani for investigations.
The investigations led to the arrest of Njomo who is highly believed to have been using the deceased phone to communicate with his family and friends as if he was Kiragu.
“We have received Whatsapp chat printouts from the deceased family members and friends indicating how he was impersonating the deceased and extorting money from them,” reads court papers.
Wangila says that the specific chats obtained were between Njomo and the deceased mother Jane Nduta based in the US, the brother Samuel Chege and Friend Everlyne Wakio who are based in Nairobi.
According to the WhatsApp chats seen by the Star, on December 10, a day after Kiragu died Njomo changed his number on the WhatsApp family group.
Then, he privately messaged his mum in the US asking for money on several occasions.
On December 6, when he was fighting for his life in the hospital, Njomo is believed to have asked for money from Kiragu’s mum.
He asked for Sh5,000 and at some point, the mother wanted to know why he was using a different number.
“Kindly help me with Sh5,000 on this number 0741270002. Sina ata food Please nitumie please,” one of the messages read.
He told the mother who thought it was his son that his phone was spoilt and he was using his friend Njomo's phone.
When the mother tried calling to talk to the son Njomo kept saying he had gone out.
That’s why the family got suspicious and when the brother went to look for him at his house they found out he had not been there for weeks.
He says the 21 days will enable them to recover the deceased mobile phone believed to be in the suspect's possession but which he has hidden.
They also want to liaise with the respective hospitals where the deceased was treated for information on the nature of the treatment and injuries he suffered.
The family will also obtain communication data of the deceased and the suspect from the respective telecommunications service providers which is necessary for investigations.
Wangila claims that Njomo’s detention is to avoid possible interference with potential witnesses by virtue of having closely interacted with the deceased
The court was also told that Njomo is known to be widely traveled and thus deemed to be a flight risk.
The case will be mentioned on February 6