This archive report was first published on 27 October 2019.
On October 5, 2019, a Kenyan priest went missing from his parents' home in Tala. His body was later recovered from a riverbed in Mbeere South, Embu, on October 16, 2019.
According to investigators, the priest's disappearance was reported to the KBC police station on October 7, 2019. The body was found mutilated and stashed in a sack.
During a court hearing on October 27, 2019, a suspect, Michael Mutunga, a trained nursery school teacher, was detained for 10 days at Kilimani police station. Investigators had sought 14 days, but the court reduced the request by four days.
According to the police, Mutunga was willing to provide more information that could lead to the recovery of other valuables belonging to the priest and help the police arrest more suspects.
During the hearing, the suspect, Mutunga, revealed that he had been in a romantic relationship with the deceased priest. He also alleged that he was asked to provide his bank account number and M-Pesa balance, and that he transferred cash from the priest's account to an unknown account.
However, the presiding magistrate, Hellen Okwani, directed that the suspect confess at the police station in the presence of his family and a chief inspector.
The case will be mentioned on November 6, 2019.
