Dozens of mourners thronged the sleepy Kairi village in Gilgil to bid farewell to Monica Kimani, the Kenyan business woman whose cruel murder in the Capital city last week left the nation shocked.
The family of the late Monica Nyawira Kimani, still cannot fathom why their 28-year-old bread winner was killed in cold blood last Wednesday.
Her father told mourners that he had only one wish. “Before I join my maker I would like to know who killed my daughter and why,” Mr Paul Kimani, who spoke for slightly over a minute during Friday’s sombre funeral in Gilgil, Nakuru County, said.
People lined up on the road side as Ms Kimani’s funeral convoy snaked it’s way to her ancestral home.
Speakers who attended the burial also condemned her killing and called on investigation agencies to expedite the probe.
Though a representative, Gilgil MP Martha Wangari, echoed similar sentiments saying those involved in the killing should be brought to book.
A sombre mood engulfed Monica’s mother who couldn’t even address the family and friends who had gathered at her home to bury her daughter. She was still recovering from the shock by the unfortunate death of her beloved daughter whose body was found in her flat in Nairobi by her brother.
Every so often, she wiped the tears that rolled freely down her cheeks with a white handkerchief as speakers poured praised on her slain daughter.
Background
Monica, the businesswamn who was killed last Wednesday might have lived a low-keyed life, but her killing captured the attention of the nation due to the personalities being investigated in connection with her death, especially Mr Irungu, the boyfriend of TV journalist Jacque Maribe.
She was a businesswoman based in South Sudan and she was in the interior design business offering services to various organisations in South Sudan.
Ms Nyawira was murdered and her body placed inside a bathtub with her hands tied together, her mouth sealed with adhesive tape and her throat slit. Her undergarments had also been partly torn an indication that she might have been raped before she was murdered.
She was killed a day after she arrived in Kenya from Juba, South Sudan.
Mr Joseph Kuria Irungu, alias Joe Jowi, has been arrested as the key suspect in connection with the killing and is in custody as police continue with investigations.
Fiancée of Jowi, Jacque Maribe, the TV presenter who announced the death of Monica on national TV has also been spotted at Kilimani Police Station after being ‘wanted’ by the police in connection to the murder of Monica Kimani.
Officers said that they needed the journalist to report to the police station to make a statement on the ongoing case.
The journalist has been missing from her work place at Royal Media stations and efforts to contact her via her phone were futile as the calls went unanswered.
Meanwhile, her car was seized and taken to Kilimani police station for DNA tests as her Fiance Jowie is suspected to have been using the car on the night he is believed to have killed Ms Kimani’s life at her apartment on 20 September.
Meanwhile, Monica Kimani’s brother George Kimani stated that Monica and Joseph Irungu aka Jowie went to school together in 2012 at the Technical University of Kenya and his deceased sister has since rejected any romantic affair proposed by Jowie.
Prior to Monica’s death, it was revealed that she was visited by two men “Joe and Owen” who found her with a ‘white’ neighbor who had to excuse himself as he left Monica with her two visitors.
She allegedly introduced the two men to her “white” neighbor. While in the company of the two men, a man in a Kanzu who did not register his details but said he was a pastor also came by as her neighbor left.
Interesting, the ‘white man’ who was Monica’s neighbour has moved out according to guards at her apartment. This contracdicts statements from the house agents who also says there are no vacant apartments in Monica’s building. He adds that no one has vacated the apartment.
Jowie’s Wound
Joseph Irungu, the prime suspect in the killing of 28-year-old businesswoman Monica Kimani, was also spotted with a wound on his shoulder, an injury he claims he had from an attack.
Investigators believe that Mr Irungu might have faked a gunshot wound on his left shoulder to conceal the truth about the murder. He was arrested on Tuesday morning after preliminary investigations linked him to the murder, but claimed that he was attacked by gunmen on Friday morning after he dropped off Ms Maribe at her residence.
The Kenyan police are questioning his narrative, saying they suspect the wound may have been occasioned by a struggle with the dead woman. The incident occured on September 1, at Limuru Gardens Apartment in Kilimani, Nairobi.
Lead investigator Maxwell Otieno on Wednesday said that at the end of the investigation, it may turn out that the wound was not inflicted by a bullet but by “other weapons”.
More to come.
Mr Irungu has been remanded for 10 days to facilitate further investigations. The court also ruled that he be taken to hospital.
The suspect, who was arrested in Lang’ata, told the police that after the shooting, he returned to Ms Maribe’s house, and was taken to Nairobi West Hospital.
