DCI has announced the arrest of a suspected serial killer linked to 2 murders in Thika.
According to a statement by the DCI on Thursday, April 17, Samuel King'ara Kimani targeted young women.
DCI added that the suspect would attack the women walking along isolated paths before sexually assaulting them.
In both incidents, the murder of the two women occurred at a coffee plantation, something that was highlighted as a pattern.
In the first case, 22-year-old Rosemary Njeri Ndekei was reported to have gone to Thika Town on March 17 to purchase clothes. She failed to return home, which prompted her family to file a missing persons report.
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A day later, villagers discovered her decomposing body at a coffee plantation.
"Members of the public discovered the lifeless body of a young woman in a coffee plantation in Karibaribi area. Without identification documents, the decomposing body was transported to General Kago Mortuary for identification and autopsy," DCI documented.
"On March 19, 2025, the body was identified as that of Rosemary by her family, confirming their worst fears. Upon autopsy, the government pathologist confirmed the cause of death to be manual strangulation and blunt force trauma to the head, clear signs of a brutal homicide."
In the second murder, 20-year-old Hellen Wambui Ndung'u was attacked by the suspect on March 31, after she was sent to buy foodstuffs by her mother.
Similar to the first victim, she was dragged to a coffee plantation before being attacked.
"The investigation uncovered a chilling pattern: in both cases, the suspect accosted the victims at isolated pathways, thereafter dragging them into the depths of sprawling coffee plantations, where he sexually assaulted them before ruthlessly taking their lives and holing up without a trace," DCI added.
After investigations, detectives trailed King'ara and arrested him on April 14.
Subsequently, he was arraigned in court on April 16, with detectives obtaining custodial orders to withhold him further as they complete their investigations.
