This archive report was first published on 3 May 2021.
Published on May 3, 2021, a fortnight after four men went missing from a Kitengela hotel, the bodies of two of the men were found in Murang'a County.
The four men, Brian Oduor, Elijah Obuong, Benjamin Imbai, and Jack Ochieng, were well-known in the Coast region for their alleged involvement in various crimes.
According to court documents, Oduor, Obuong, and Imbai were arrested and charged after being linked to a deadly gang behind a spate of robberies at the Coast.
The four men disappeared moments after having lunch at a hotel in Kitengela town, Kajiado County, and their disappearance has sparked a murder investigation.
Inspector General of Police Hillary Mutyambai announced the formation of a special team of homicide detectives to investigate the matter.
The cases the four men and their accomplices were facing included theft from parked vehicles in Mombasa, Taita Taveta, and Kilifi counties, committed between 2016 and 2018.
One of their accomplices, Chege Gitau, was killed in 2017 after being sprayed with bullets by five men.
Gitau was killed barely a month after he was charged and released on a Sh100,000 bond by a Mombasa magistrate's court.
He was well-known by his neighbours, having been arrested, arraigned, and his story widely covered by the press over his links to criminals.
