A Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) student has allegedly confessed to the police on his involvement in a murder of a taxi driver.
Elijah Magambi, 17, a Form Four student at St Patrick’s Education Centre in Kasarani, reportedly lured the taxi driver, Stephen Kimani, to his death in an incident that has baffled detectives.
According to Magambi, he and his friend wanted to steal Kimani’s car so they orchestrated a plan that he could not suspect any heinous act.
Magambi hired the 40-year-old driver for an upcountry trip, claiming that he needed transport to transfer a relative who was ailing from Kisii Teaching and Referral Hospital to Kenyatta University Teaching and Referral Hospital, respectively, a service they could pay him Sh30,000.
It’s unclear why Magambi would hire a taxi from Nairobi instead of the family in Kisii doing it from their end.
Apparently, Kimani, too didn’t probe the rationale on this, in any case, for him it was business as usual.
Enticed by the offline sweet deal, he left Nairobi for Kisii at midnight of February 11.
Magambi informed his contact in Kisii, identified as Maxwell Nyangoya, 22, that he was on the way.
The taxi pulled up at the Kisii Teaching and Referral Hospital at 9am on February 12.
As Magambi and Kimani had breakfast, the “client” pretended to call a relative of the patient to inform them they had arrived.
Nyangoya later joined them and said that the patient’s relative, who was to pay for the taxi charges was in Kericho town. They waited but the person never showed up.
Since it was getting late, Magambi and Nyangoya convinced Kimani to drive to Kericho so he could be paid Sh15,000 as part of the deal. Kimani did not suspect any foul play as the two were very friendly and made him at ease.
They left for Kericho in the evening, but along the way, Magambi and Nyangoya allegedly turned against Kimani, according to a police confession.
Magambi reportedly told police that they stabbed Kimani in the stomach and neck then dumped his body in a thicket at Kipranya village, Belgut Sub-County in Kericho.
“He (Magambi) confessed to killing Kimani jointly with another suspect. He led the officers to a thicket in Kipranya village, where they dumped Kimani’s body. Officers from Sondu collected the body from the scene. They also recovered Kimani’s motor vehicle, registration number KCW 782V,” states a police report.
Magambi and his co-accused were tracked by the Crime Research and Intelligence Bureau attached to Kiambaa Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) who screened their mobile data.
Police said the two are expected to face murder, robbery with violence and abduction charges.
Detectives said their aim was to steal the vehicle, but when they were unable to, Magambi decided to drive it home.
His father, Geoffrey Manyara, was also arrested after the vehicle was found in his compound.
Magambi returned to Nairobi and was arrested on March 18 at Kenyatta University hostels, where he was being hosted by a friend.
The post-mortem examination revealed that Kimani never struggled with his killers, given the deep cuts he sustained.
“The crime scene was visited and body of the deceased was found with a stab wound on the stomach and physical injuries on the chest, back and both hands. There was no sign of struggle at the scene, which is about 500 metres from River Sondu Miriu on the border with Buret Sub-County,” states a police report.
Kimani will be buried in Banana, Kiambu County. His widow, Sarah Macharia, 33, ruled out any business rivalry, saying the suspects were not known to them.