This archive report was first published on 14 May 2020.
On April 29, 2020, the body of Terrence Korir was found charred in his car in Buru Buru Estate, Nairobi. The 35-year-old Credit Section staff at the Bank of Africa, Westlands branch, had been alive when the fire started, according to a post-mortem examination conducted by the Government Pathologist Johansen Odour on May 5, 2020.
Neighbours reported that Korir often waved at them or rolled down the windows of his car on his way back home from work, but on the morning of April 29, no such niceties were traded. The car had been reduced to a shell, and Korir's body was found strapped on the driver's seat.
Initial reports suggested that Korir could have been killed elsewhere and his body brought into his car, which was then set on fire. However, the post-mortem examination revealed that Korir had inhaled a lot of soot, indicating that he had taken a lot of time in the car before he died.
His wife, Ruth Wanjiru Mungai, 29, a banker, was the first to record a statement with the police. She had been condemned on social media, but Korir's mother, Betsy Maritim, had kind words for her, stating, "I have never had any issue with her. We are constantly in touch."
The family has asked DCI boss George Kinoti to conduct a thorough probe into Korir's death. Investigators have since forwarded ash samples to the Government Chemist to establish whether the fire was caused by petrol or paraffin and have also forwarded parts of Korir's intestinal walls for toxicological examination.
Fire experts from the Nairobi County Government, incorporated into the investigations, have revealed that the fire started from the driver's seat, and based on the way the vehicle was parked, there is no possibility that a third party was around. According to police sources, the fire experts think that it was suicide.
