A suspect in the murder of the late principal of Kiru High School has admitted taking part in the murder.
The suspect said that he agreed to be part of the gang that killed the principal after he was promised Sh. 400,000 by the principal’s wife.
In his confession, Joseph Njuguna alias Karis, place the late principal’s wife Jane Muthoni at the centre of the murder scene.
“In June last year, I received a call from a lady identified as Damaris whom I have known for a long time informing me of a well-paying job,” said Karis.
The 10-page confession was read out in court by State Counsel Catherine Mwaniki on Tuesday when Mr Kariuki pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of manslaughter before Kiambu High Court Judge Joel Ngugi, in a plea agreement that saw his charges reduced from murder.
Damaris told him that someone named Njiru would call him later with details about the job. Njiru called a day later and asked to meet him at Tree Shade Hotel in Kimbo, Kahawa, where Kariuki found him in the company of Damaris.
They disclosed to him that the headteacher’s wife – introduced to him only as Mwalimu (teacher) – was the one behind the execution plot, and that she had made a Sh100,000 down payment.
On November 4, Kariuki and another man known only as Gikuyu met at Texas bar in Kiria-ini where they were joined by Njiru and Mwalimu, who informed them she had a new plan of poisoning her husband, he said.
On November 5, Mwalimu called them with instructions that they meet at Urithi near Ndarugo. Mwalimu drove in with her unconscious husband, the court heard.
Kariuki and Gikuyu boarded the car which they drove to a forest where Gikuyu put a sisal rope around Mr Mwangi’s neck and removed him from the car.
He says they left Mwalimu behind as they took their victim deep into the thicket where they tied his hands, tightened the rope on his neck and hanged him on a tree. He was later found dead.
When they returned where they had left the car, they found Mwalimu gone and efforts to trace her so that she could pay the balance of Sh300,000 were unsuccessful since the phone she was using during the deal had been switched off, he said.
