Suspect Behind Murder of 18-Year-Old Form Four Student Arrested

Detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) have arrested a 23-year-old suspect in connection with the brutal murder of Joy Wangui, a form four student at Molo Secondary School. 

In a statement on Tuesday, October 6, DCI said the suspect, Walter Kipkoech, was traced to a hideout in Lagwenda village, Kuresoi North.

According to the DCI, Kipkoech went into hiding immediately after he allegedly killed the 18-year-old form four student. 

“The suspect, Walter Kipkoech, 23, was traced to a hideout in Lagwenda village, Kuresoi North, where detectives from Molo, alongside their counterparts from the Crime Research and Intelligence Bureau (CRIB) at the Regional Criminal Investigations Headquarters, Rift Valley, smoked him out of his hideout.

“Kipkoech had reportedly fled immediately after the killing of 18-year-old Joy Wangui, a Form Four student at Molo Secondary School,” read the statement. 

Wangui’s lifeless body was discovered by her brother inside a house in the Kiambaa area of Moto Location, with her head severed from her body.

The investigative agency noted that detectives who responded to the incident found the murder weapon, an axe, a panga, and two knives, all bearing bloodstains. 

The deceased’s head was later discovered in the corridor, where a message had allegedly been scrawled on the wall using blood. 

Preliminary investigations established that the 23-year-old suspect was Wangui’s boyfriend. 

Further, DCI said Kipkoech was wearing a blood-stained boxer, a white T-shirt bearing the deceased’s name at the hem, and black jeans with visible dry blood stains when he was apprehended. 

He was escorted to Molo Police Station, where he is undergoing processing pending arraignment. 

“The suspect was escorted to Molo Police Station, where he is undergoing processing pending arraignment, as detectives continue with investigations as they piece together the events leading to the horrific killing,” DCI added. 

This comes weeks after the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has secured the conviction of Dancun Livingstone Kimathi, a former student of the United States International University-Africa (USIU-Africa), for the murder of his fellow student, Sarah Akello Aruwa.

In a statement on Friday, September 18, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) said the conviction brings to an end a murder trial that had lasted for about 14 years, with the prosecution presenting evidence linking Kimathi to the abduction and killing of Akello.

The court heard that Akello was a final-year International Relations student at USIU-Africa. 

According to the ODPP, on the day she disappeared, she told a friend that she was going out to meet a man she had previously met at the university library.  

Justice Kanyi Kimondo found Kimathi guilty of the murder, which occurred between June 30 and July 1, 2012, in the Kiamako area of Githunguri, Kiambu County.

The prosecution told the court that Akello's abductors demanded a ransom from her family after taking her captive. 

Her mother, Hellen Atieno Aruwa, testified that a man called her using her daughter's mobile phone and demanded Ksh100,000.