This archive report was first published on 7 October 2019.
Police Informer Reveals Brutal Abduction and Murder of Lawyer Willy Kimani ¶
On June 23, 2016, lawyer Willy Kimani, his client Josephat Mwenda, and taxi driver Joseph Muiruri were kidnapped while leaving the Mavoko Law Courts in Nairobi. According to Peter Ngugi, a police informer who has since turned against his former colleagues, the three men were forced into a car by police officers Fredrick Leliman, Leonard Maina Mwangi, and others.
Ngugi, who was working as an informant for Leliman at the time, had been instructed to follow the complainant after the court session and keep him informed about the man's movement. He was paid Ksh.2,000 for the job.
However, Ngugi's role soon escalated to assisting in the abduction and murder of the three men. He revealed in his written statement that he was instructed to dispose of their vehicle, which he abandoned at Kwambira in Limuru. The police officers then took the three men to a bush near the Nairobi-Mombasa Road, where they were killed.
Ngugi described how the police officers used a polythene bag and a rope to suffocate and strangle the three men. Their bodies were then thrown into a river near Ol Donyo Sabuk police post.
The bodies of the three men were found in Athi River near Ol Donyo Sabuk police post in July 2016, a week after they went missing. Four AP officers - Fredrick Leliman, Stephen Cheburet, Sylvia Wanjiku, and Leonard Maina Mwangi - and Ngugi are facing charges of killing Kimani, Mwenda, and Muiruri.
