Court detains officer, rider and driver linked to Dr Victoria Mutiso's murder

Police officer Elijah Kibelion Kimoi, a boda boda rider and an alleged key linkman will remain in custody for 30 days as detectives pursue fresh leads into the killing of Dr Victoria Nthunya Mutiso.

This is after Police Constable Kimoi, attached to Karinde Police Post in Kikuyu, Land cruiser Prado driver D aniel Mwangi Njoroge and boda boda rider Kevin Ngugi Kinuthia were arraigned before Milimani Magistrate Paul Mutai on Monday but were not formally charged after the DCI filed an application seeking to continue holding them for 30 days to complete ongoing investigations into the murder of Dr Mutiso.

The magistrate however allowed the DCI detectives' request to have the three suspects detained for a month as they continue investigations into the matter.

"I note that one of the suspects is a serving police officer. I am persuaded that if the respondents are released at this stage, there is a high likelihood that they will interfere with the investigations," Magistrate Mutai ruled.

He added: "I will allow the application made by the prosecution. The respondents will be detained in custody for the next 30 days, pending conclusion of investigations."

The magistrate ordered that Kimoi be detained at Ruaraka Police Station, Njoroge at Pangani Police Station, while Kinuthia will be held at Gigiri Police Station as detectives complete investigations.

The court further directed that should investigations conclude before the 30 days lapse, the suspects can be presented back in court.

The trio are under probe over the death of Dr Mutiso, PhD, formerly the Director of the African Institute of Mental and Brain Health who was fatally shot on July 29, 2026 while travelling inside an Uber, a Toyota Passo registration number KDJ 609D, in Upper Hill within Kilimani Sub-County, Nairobi County.

According to the DCI, the killing was first reported vide OB No. 35/29/07/2026 at Kibra Police Station, with DCI Kilimani carrying out initial investigations before the Homicide Investigations Bureau took over.

The three are the latest suspects to be arrested in connection with Dr Mutiso’s murder, bringing to seven the number of people arrested so far in investigations into her death.

The DCI has, in court documents, detailed the alleged roles of each of the three suspects in the events leading to the killing.

According to an affidavit sworn by Corporal Romana Odour of the DCI’s Homicide Investigations Bureau at DCI Headquarters in Nairobi, police constable Kimoi is alleged to have fired the fatal shots that killed Dr Mutiso.

Njoroge is accused of driving a black Toyota Prado, registration number KDH 600A, which detectives say was used to block the Uber vehicle in which Dr Mutiso was travelling.

Kinuthia, whom detectives describe as an alleged key linkman, is accused of dropping off and later picking up officer Kimoi from the scene using motorcycle registration number KMGZ 980D.

The DCI says preliminary investigations have therefore placed the three suspects at different stages of the alleged operation, although investigators say it is still premature to charge them before completing outstanding inquiries.

Corporal Odour added that the investigations are complex since other accomplices remain on the run while others including Rose Mbithe and her son advocate Chris Mulwa who are said to have hired the three and two other police officers are already in custody in a separate case, Milimani Chief Magistrate's Court Miscellaneous Application No. E3495 of 2026.

The investigators have also placed a firearm at the centre of their ongoing forensic investigations.

According to Corporal Odour, detectives recovered two spent cartridges and two bullet fragments from the scene and submitted them for forensic examination.

The forensic examination, the affidavit says, established the type of firearm used in the killing.

Detectives subsequently recovered a Mini Jericho pistol, serial number 47302127, which was examined.

The preliminary ballistic opinion, according to the DCI, links the recovered cartridge cases and bullet head to the recovered firearm.

More significantly, investigators say the pistol had been issued to a senior police officer who is currently at large.

The DCI told the court it is also pursuing recovery of other firearms suspected to have been used in the operation, for further ballistic analysis, as it works to establish the full chain of those involved, including officers still being sought.

Detectives also recovered CCTV footage and call data records, and have detained three motor vehicles, KDJ 609D, KDH 600A and KDE 400W, together with motorcycle KMGZ 980D, all for forensic examination.

The ongoing probe links the killing to a land dispute over L.R. No. 1504/13, the subject of Machakos court case MCELC/E111/2025, describing it as a possible motive.

Investigators have also connected the murder investigation to an earlier incident in which Dr Mutiso reported being confronted by armed men.

According to the affidavit, on July 7, 2026, three weeks before her death, Dr Mutiso reported that she had been confronted near Junction Mall along Ngong Road by two armed persons riding on a motorcycle.

The two allegedly pointed a gun at her, but she managed to escape.

She subsequently reported the incident at Kilimani Police Station under OB No. 63/07/07/2026.

The DCI says preliminary investigations have established that officer Kimoi is suspected to have been one of the armed persons who confronted Dr Mutiso during the earlier incident too.

Further, detective Odour told the court that the trio are known to material witnesses, including members of Dr Mutiso’s family, among them her husband, Professor David Musyimi Ndetei, as well as persons connected to the land dispute, creating a risk of interference if they were released.

 Investigators singled out the deceased's husband as a principal and crucial identifying witness who due to the trauma of his wife's killing, has yet to record a comprehensive statement,  one investigators say is central to establishing the earlier threats against Dr Mutiso and identifying those who trailed her.

“Dr Mutiso’s husband, Professor David Musyimi Ndetei, is a key and crucial witness in the investigations, and his evidence is important in establishing the circumstances surrounding the threats previously reported by the deceased,” the DCI told the court.

The DCI also cited the risk of collusion with suspects still at large, some of whom it said are senior police officers, and argued that public knowledge of the suspects' identities raised a genuine risk of mob justice or retaliation against them if released before investigations concluded.

The DCI has asked for additional time to trace and arrest the other persons allegedly involved including senior police officers.

Investigators are also seeking to recover other firearms suspected to have been used in the murder and subject them to ballistic examination.

Other outstanding inquiries include forensic analysis of CCTV footage and call data records, examination of the detained vehicles and motorcycle, recording of outstanding witness statements and establishing the respective roles of all persons suspected to have participated in the killing.

The prosecution argued that the three suspects posed a risk of interfering with investigations if released.

The DCI also described them as flight risks, arguing that they face a potential capital offence and that some alleged accomplices remain at large.

The application was not opposed by the three suspects

In his ruling, Magistrate l Mutai said the murder under investigation was serious and that detectives required time to complete their inquiries.

"I note that one of the suspects is a serving police officer. I am persuaded that if the respondents are released at this stage, there is a high likelihood that they will interfere with the investigations," Mutai said.

The magistrate subsequently allowed the prosecution's application and ordered the three to remain in custody for 30 days pending completion of investigations.

The case will be mentioned on September 10, 2026 for further directions.