If Nicholas Waruinge had known last year that he would be brutally butchered in his Kiambu home, he would have remained in the United States where he worked as a nurse.
He jetted into the country on December 4 to reunite with his family in Kiambaa, but on Wednesday, police collected his decapitated body from his home. He was murdered alongside his wife, their son, a nephew and a farmhand.
So mutilated were the bodies that the intestines were hanging out and there was blood all over the place. The scene was so gory that even the closest relatives were not allowed by the police to view the bodies.
His murdered wife worked as a nurse at Wangige Hospital.
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Kiambu county police commander Ali Nuhu said Waruinge’s body had over 36 stab wounds, which appeared to have been inflicted using a heavy excavation digging bar (tarimbo).
His home is well-secured with a perimeter wall reinforced by razor wires and a double layer of strong gates.
“We have not witnessed this kind of crime in the area for at least 10 years. It was not robbery because nothing appears to have been taken away,” Nuhu said.
The assailants gained access into the compound, executed the family members one after another and then took off without being noticed.
But it emerged that before the four were murdered, the assailants had first killed a farmhand just outside the compound.
Neighbours said they did not even hear a cry for help from the family? It is not clear, and even if they even tried, no one would hear because it is far withdrawn from the rest of the villagers.
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Highly placed investigators told the Star that the family members are the first suspects in the crime.
“The way this home is guarded, it is clear that there are issues in this family. We are treating them as among the suspects,” the source said.
To tie up the loose ends in the story, detectives are also pursuing a theory of family wrangles that could have cost Waruinge and his children and wife their lives.
It emerged that one of Waruinge’s brother had been mysteriously murdered in 2016 by unknown people.
Another was shot in the hip while driving home in 2019. Further, the detectives say, Waruinge was a polygamous man and there existed sharp rivalry between his first and second family.
The bodies were taken to KU mortuary.
– The Star/ Gordo Osen
