Two suspects who have been in police custody for the last one and a half months over the murder of a Kiambu businesswoman were on Monday formally charged. The duo was charged that on January 26 and 27 jointly with others not before the court at Four ways Junction estate along Kiambu-Nairobi road, they murdered Ms Kamangara.
Prosecution counsel Christine Ndombi opposed the duo to be released on bond. The court set March 18 as the next mention of the case when the pre-bail report will be presented. The duo was supposed to take a plea on Tuesday last week but the defence said it was not ready for the case Lawyer Doreen Kalii, who was holding brief for Wangui's lawyer, Cliff Ombeta, said they were not ready for the case on Monday since they were attending to other matters.
Sam Ogutu, representing Mr Mathenge, also said he was not ready and needed more time to acquaint himself with the case. On Monday, the court set pre-trial conference of the case to be held on July 30 while the hearing of the case was set for October 7 and 8. In the meanwhile, the duo will remain in custody awaiting the outcome of their bond application. Ms Kalii's attempt to make an application to have the court order the release of Wangui's Mercedes Benz which has been in the custody of police was not successful after the judge told her to allow the court to first deal with the bond issue.
Police two weeks ago released unconditionally Joseph Kori Karue the husband of the slain businessman who has been in police custody together with the two suspects. Kori was released from custody at Gigiri Police Station where he was being held. Police officers were however tight-lipped about his release, with investigating officer John Wahome only confirming he had been released. Stay informed. Subscribe to our newsletter. Mr Wahome said they did not require to take Kori back to court in order to secure his release since he had not been officially charged.
In his statement to detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations DCI in Juja where the matter was being handled before DCI Director George Kinoti transferred it to the homicide unit, Kori had said he last talked to Wambui at 4 pm on the day she was killed. He said he neither called his wife nor Wangui after that as he did not want to escalate what was already turning out to be a day of drama between him and his wife.
