This archive report was first published on 25 October 2019.
On October 25, 2019, detectives from the Special Crimes Prevention Unit made a significant breakthrough in the investigation into the murder of Catholic priest Fr. Michael Maingi. The priest was kidnapped in Machakos and later found brutally murdered in Embu County.
According to the Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DCI), the 46-year-old suspect, Kavivya Mwangangi, was arrested on Thursday at Kategi area in Mbeere, Embu County. The arrest was made in an intelligence-led operation.
During the operation, security officers recovered a mobile phone and a SIM card used to receive cash from the deceased priest's phone through M-pesa. The suspect was flushed out of his hiding and taken into custody.
The DCI has confirmed that the suspect will be detained as the investigation into the gruesome murder continues. The detectives are further investigating the possibility of the murder being connected to a cult, with the suspect and his accomplice, Michael Mutunga, suspected to be part of the group.
Earlier, an application form to join the Illuminati cult, reportedly filled by the suspect in September 2018, was recovered in Mwangangi's rented house. The form was a significant piece of evidence in the investigation.
Also recovered from the house were blood-stained clothes and a notebook bearing names and phone numbers of people suspected to be members of the secret society.
Fr. Michael Maingi disappeared from Thatha Parish in Machakos on October 8, 2019, only to be found dead in the mysterious murder that has left many Kenyans in shock. The body was discovered on October 15, 2019, almost a week after he had been kidnapped from his parish by gunmen.
