Nairobi, Kenya | By Michael Wandati | The authorities have discovered what is believed to be the head of 20-year-old Rita Waeni, a Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) student who was tragically murdered. The decomposing severed head was found in a dam in Kiambaa.
Police were informed about the floating human head on a dam in Kiambu County by a chief – according to a report filed at the Karuri Police Station.
According to the report filed in Occurance Book (OB) 34/21/01/2024 at 17:10 hours, Karuri chief Simon Kang’ethe told the police that he received information from Kimuga village elder Joseph Thara that a human head had been seen floating on the Ite Dam at Kimuga village, Kimuga sub-location, Kiambaa location.
According to the police report, the head was wrapped in a purple female blouse and then put in a green carrier bag with a stone placed in it – seemingly to make it sink in the dam.
Police indicate that this discovery is crucial for reconstructing the timeline of her killers’ movements after the initial murder at a Roysambu apartment. Additionally, her missing mobile phone has also been recovered.
The motive behind the murder remains unknown, but law enforcement suspects that the perpetrators may have been professionals. Rita’s lifeless body was later found in a dustbin, hours after the brutal incident. A postmortem examination revealed the disturbing detail that she had missing nails.
Currently, four individuals are in custody in connection with the murder, even though there is no direct link established between them and the crime.
“This person who did all these also tried to clip off the fingernails for reasons which I might not be able to know but for us scientists when we see fingernails clipped off, we think probably the person was trying to hide evidence so that we are unable to get his DNA from the victim,” government pathologist Johansen Oduor said after the exercise.
The finding has left detectives puzzled with the motive of the killing still not yet established.
“I don’t know why but in investigations, such nails help in gathering evidence. People fight when dying and DNA evidence can be hidden there,” Oduor said.
Oduor however said there were remnants of some fingernails and that samples were taken for further analysis to help police in their investigations.
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The autopsy confirmed that the body was dismembered with the head chopped off and the legs also cut away from the trunk.
“The skin looks like it was cut with a sharp object but the bone was sawed off with what looks like a hacksaw. This is the first time I’m seeing something like this. In my forensic life, I have never come across such an incident,” Oduor said.
The dismembered body of the 20-year-old Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) student was discovered at an apartment along TRM Drive in Roysambu on Sunday, January 14, 2024.
The head was missing and Police could not immediately confirm the identity of the victim.
