This archive report was first published on 22 November 2019.
On November 22, 2019, Joseph 'Jowie' Irungu, a suspect in the high-profile murder case of Monica Kimani, appeared in court to apply for bail. He claimed to be 'suffering' in prison, but did not specify the nature of his suffering.
Irungu has been in custody for over a year, since his arrest and charging alongside TV journalist Jackie Maribe. They have both denied the charges of murdering Monica Kimani.
Maribe was granted bail earlier, but the court denied Irungu the same privilege, citing concerns that he was a flight risk and did not have a fixed address.
Meanwhile, Monica Kimani's brother, George Kimani, recounted to the court how he discovered her body in the Lamuria Apartments. He explained that he and others had gone to check on her after she failed to respond to calls, and found her dead in the bathroom.
‘We went to the owner of the apartment and explained to her…she did not take long and instructions were given to the caretaker to find a way we could be assisted to access the house… We decided to take a ladder and the Gardner went up through the window,’ George Kimani explained.
‘When he went through, he started looking for the doors but we asked him to first find out whether Monica was in the house, in less than a minute he came to us and looked confused. When we asked, he just signaled at us and went back to the door knocking it.’
‘The gardener told us she was in the bathroom. We all ran to the bathroom and found my sister there, dead.’
