Ndudi Anyim
A father of four and a prominent Nyeri businessman, Stephen Wang’ondu, has been arraigned for allegedly killing his son, Daniel Mwangi, 32, to marry his daughter in-law in Kenya.
Wang’ondu, who was charged alongside his alleged accomplices James Mahinda, Eddy Kariuki, Raphael Wachira and Geoffrey Warutumo, allegedly murdered Mwangi on New Year Day.
It was learnt that Wang’ondu earlier had an argument with his son over his affair with his wife. He was however killed in front of his house.
Investigations revealed that the four accomplices were allegedly paid Sh160,000, with a Sh20,000 down payment for the hit job.
A police source (name withheld), who spoke on the incident, said the woman in the eye of the storm, Charity Nyawira, was also charged for the murder, but denied involvement.
It was learnt that while the businessman and his said accomplices pleaded not guilty, Nyawira was released and told to report to police every two weeks for a month.
“ She and his son had separated but his father took her in, married her and set up a business for her. They took pleas after the prosecution said they underwent psychiatric exams and were found fit to stand trial. The examination was at Kenyatta National Hospital, Othaya annex, ” the source said.
However, prosecutor Duncan Ondimu, said the state was not ready to proceed with the bail application as the state plans to file an affidavit objecting to bail for all five.
Ondimu said they were unable to file the affidavit earlier, citing time constraints in the investigations.
Ondimu requested the court to detain the suspects in different remands due to security concerns and the risks involving one of the suspects.
“The investigating officers had expressed concerns during the period of the detention, details which we would not wish to go into. The matter is being investigated,” he said.
He requested that Wang’ondu be detained at King’ong’o prison, Mahinda at Embu, Kariuki and Wachira at Kiruguya prison while Warutumo would be detained at Mwea prison.
Their lawyers did not object to the remands.
Judge Florence Muchemi set the hearing day for their bail application for March 9, despite objections by all lawyers for the accused.
She said the date was fixed next week as the court will not be sitting on Thursday, when the two requested days end, as the court had other commitments.
“I find the time of two days to be reasonable and the prosecution ought to be allowed time to file the affidavit,” Muchemi said.
The accused first appeared before senior principal magistrate Mathias Okuche more than a week ago but were referred to the High Court for plea taking.