Three more suspects have been arrested in connection with the murder of psychiatrist Dr Victoria Nthunya Mutiso, with two of them detained in Uganda after allegedly fleeing the country following the killing.
According to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), the suspects include Police Constable Bett Kiplangat Collins, attached to Thogoto Police Station, and civilian Pius Muiru Mbugua, who were arrested in Kampala with the assistance of the Uganda Police Force.
A third suspect, Samuel Karanja Gathoni, also known as “Lawyer”, was intercepted by detectives in the Langata Multi-Media area as he travelled towards Ongata Rongai.
The DCI said the arrests followed forensic analysis by a specialised team drawn from its Crime Research and Intelligence Bureau, Operations Directorate and Homicide Bureau.
The two suspects arrested in Uganda were traced to Kyanja Heights flats in the Nakawa suburb of Kampala.
They are being held at Jinja Road Police Station pending an escorted return to Nairobi, where they will be processed and arraigned.
Investigators allege that PC Bett was assigned to provide surveillance and acted as co-driver to Daniel Mwangi Njoroge, whom they describe as a central organiser of the operation.
Njoroge was driving a Land Cruiser Prado, registration KDH 600A, which detectives say was used to box in the Uber vehicle carrying Dr Mutiso on 29 July in Upper Hill, Nairobi.
Dr Mutiso was fatally shot moments later.
The DCI also alleges that Mbugua acted as a link between the execution team and the person who contracted them.
“Mbugua served as paymaster, moving money for logistics and the movement of the hit team,” the DCI said.
The latest arrests come after claims that some suspects had been arrested and subsequently released, or that security officials had helped them escape.
The DCI dismissed the allegations as false, saying they were intended to “smear the investigation, shake public trust and cast detectives as accomplices rather than pursuers”.
“Flight delayed the file. It did not close it,” the agency said.
It thanked Dr Mutiso’s family, friends and members of the public for supporting the investigation and urged anyone with information to contact police or use the #FichuaKwaDCI reporting channels.