This archive report was first published on 4 May 2021.
Kitengela Murders: Bail Jumping Suspect ¶
On April 19, 2021, four men vanished in Kitengela, Kajiado County, only to be found dead the following day. One of the victims, Brian Oduor, had a history of jumping bail in Mombasa.
According to court records, Oduor had jumped bail in a theft case involving Sh1.5 million. A warrant of arrest had been issued against him and his friend, Mr Ramadhan Hussein Kamau, in a criminal case that is still pending in court.
Senior Resident Magistrate Christine Ogweno directed on April 25, 2019, that a warrant of arrest be issued against the two accused persons plus their sureties extended.
On December 15, 2017, Oduor and his accomplices allegedly stole Sh1.5 million from a locked vehicle belonging to Mr Sammy Muutu Mulwa. They also damaged the windscreen of the vehicle, valued at Sh14,000.
Investigations revealed that Oduor had hired a vehicle from Nairobi to commit the crime. The vehicle, a grey Toyota Noah, was used to track down Mr Mulwa to Tudor, where his money was stolen.
Mr Stephen Wadego Okello, a car hire dealer, testified that he had rented the vehicle to Oduor for a week at a fee of Sh32,000. Mr Timothy Onyango Otek, who acted as a broker in the car hire trade, also testified that he had facilitated the rental of the vehicle to Oduor.
The case against Oduor and Mr Ramadhan is coming up for mention on May 13, 2021.
Meanwhile, the Kitengela murders have an eerie coincidence with the killings of three people in Changamwe, Mombasa. One survived the shooting in Changamwe.
James Munyao Mwangi was killed alongside two Tanzanians on April 22, 2021. The Tanzanians worked as mechanics in Saba Saba area and specialized in car tracking systems.
Police said Mwangi, who was the driver of the vehicle, was killed at the scene while the other two died on Thursday. The three were killed at around 8.30pm when a vehicle they were travelling in was sprayed with bullets by unknown gunmen.
