This archive report was first published on 18 November 2019.
On November 18, 2019, the bodies of Joyce Syombua, 31, and her two children, Shanice Maua, 10, and Prince Michael, five, were exhumed from a shallow grave on Thingithu estate in Nanyuki town, Laikipia.
Major Peter Mugure, 36, the prime suspect in the murder, had been detained at the Nanyuki police station.
According to his colleagues at the Laikipia Air Base, Mugure had portrayed peculiar behavior, including standing in the rain for hours, which disturbed his fellow soldiers.
One of the officers said, 'At one time while driving in the camp, I spotted him standing in the rain for over 30 minutes. He was being rained on and was constantly looking at his watch.'
Mugure had been 'grounded' after he crashed an aeroplane as a trainee pilot, which could be the source of his personal and mental problems.
It is alleged that Mugure poisoned his family and killed them elsewhere, and that he had hired a taxi driver in Nanyuki town to identify the site where the bodies were buried.
Laikipia DCI officer Peter Muinde led the recovery operation, which lasted for 21 days, and said that multiple sources helped them piece together leads that eventually made their mission successful.
