Fresh details have emerged in the Monica Kimani murder case ahead of the trial next week.
A statement by Brian Kasaine shows why police believe that Joseph 'Jowie' Kuria and his then-fiancee, TV Journalist Jacque Maribe – murdered Monica.
Another statement by investigating officer Maxwell Otieno of the Directorate of Criminal Investigations also outlines events that could have led to the murder.
In his statement, Otieno concludes that his team has "overwhelming evidence" against Jowie and Maribe.
"Our investigations established that both the accused persons were directly responsible for the death of the deceased Monica Nyawira," his statement says.
The two statements obtained by the Star are part of the documents to be relied on from Tuesday when the trial of the murder that happened on the night of September 19, 2018.
Kasaine told the police that he had given Jowie the gun with which he is believed to have shot himself. He said that he had given Jowie the gun on a previous occasion as he knew him as an "undercover officer".
He narrated the happenings of September 20, 2018, when the police believe Jowie tried to destroy evidence.
He said he received a WhatsApp call from Jowie at around 2am seeking to know if he had "paraffin or anything flammable or air freshener in the house."
"I got surprised at such request of these items by him at such late hour," Kasaine's statement reads.
He further narrated that at around 3pm, the same day, he met Jowie outside the house in which he lived with Maribe.
"I wanted to borrow their car keys so that I could use it to go and pick up my son from school. He was wearing a white vest, grey sweat pants. He was in deep thought and distracted," Kasaine says.
He adds that he "jokingly" asked Jowie why he was looking for paraffin in the middle of the night.
Image: COLLINS KWEYU
"He replied, 'tulikuwa job fulani na Mo-Muhoho na nikama alidunga mtu kisu' (I was with Mo-Muhoho yesterday for an assignment and he stabbed somebody," Kasaine's statement reads.
At the end of the statement, Kasaine names John Muhoho again clarifying that this was the "Mo" that Jowie had said may have stabbed someone.
"When Joseph Kuria told me as follows, 'tulikuwa job Fulani na Mo-Muhoho na nikama alidunga mtu kisu' - he was referring to John Muhoho who is a close friend of his," Kasaine said.
John Muhoho is the son of former KAA chairman George Muhoho. There have been photos of John Muhoho and Jowie on social media including Jowie's Instagram page.
Kasaine adds that Jowie told him that he wanted to burn some stuff and had used some air freshener "while pointing towards the empty plot across their house."
The investigating officer also refers to this part of Kasaine's statement. Otieno gives 12 reasons why he believes that Jowie was directly involved in the murder and five on why Maribe is being charged.
Otieno reveals that tests by the Government Chemist in a report reference A 199/2018 dated December 13, 2018, confirmed that DNA profile generated from a short Jowie wore on the day of the murder marched that generated from Monica's blood sample.
"After the commission of the crime, the accused person burnt the clothes he was wearing at the scene of crime at the second accused residence in her presence," Otieno says in the statement.ays that witnesses have placed Jowie in Monica's house and two of them - Daboul Walid and Owen Omondi - had said they left him there on that day.
Another fresh detail is that Jowie changed into a different set of clothes before he allegedly went to see Monica in his house.
"The accused changed and dressed in a white kanzu, grey coat and red cap in the immediate presence of Jennings Olando (a Recce squad officer who also had been arrested during investigations). These were the same clothes that he was putting on while at the residence of the deceased on a fateful day as confirmed by Owen, Walid and guards at the Lamuria gardens apartments," Otieno's statement reads.
He says that Jowie was in the same red cap at Club 40 Forty on the night of the murder and witnesses say he had it at Monica's house.
After the commission of the crime, the accused person burnt the clothes he was wearing at the scene of crime at the second accused residence in her presence.
He says that Monica introduced Jowie to Walid and Owen as someone who works with the Interpol as they sat in her house.
He indicates that at one time while they were watching the news on TV, Jowie commented; "They (Interpol) him included had arrested 19 terrorists in Lamu who were to be ferried to Nairobi for deportation."
Otieno's statement also indicated that Jowie also claimed to be wearing a kanzu to enable him "blend with the Somali community since he alleged that he resides in Eastleigh."
"When Owen said that he desired a firearm for protection purposes, the 1st accused offered that he was going to assist him to acquire one either through the legal or illegal process," the statement says.
He adds; "Owen confirmed that while in the deceased house, Jowie received several phone calls whereby he would move aside and speak in coded language over the phone."
Otieno also reveals for the first time that a gardener accessed Monica's house through a window and found her in a bathtub.
He got out and informed the people waiting outside, including Monica's brother, and this is when they broke the door before calling the police.
One of the reasons that police believe that Jowie murdered Monica is, as Otieno indicates, he had informed Jennings of who he was going to see.
"He informed Jennings Olando whom he was with that he was going to visit a lady friend who had just arrived from South Sudan," the statement reads.
At the beginning of his statement, Otieno says that on September 19, 2018, Monica flew from Juba and landed at JKIA at around 5.30pm.
On Maribe, Otieno says that her car was at the scene of the crime and she was seen in it on the same night.
"The accused person witnessed the burning of the clothes by the first accused on the night of the incident near her residence," Otieno lists this as the second supporting evidence.
He also says that Maribe's phone was within the same area of the incident and was switched off at about 10.25pm, which is about the time the murder happened and was switched on at around 9.52am the following day.
"Considering the above, it is evident that the accused persons jointly murdered the deceased," Otieno's statement reads.
He gives the fourth reason as that Maribe gave contradicting statements on how Jowie had sustained his gunshot injury, thus depicting her as "dishonest and hence her alibi in respect of the date of the murder is not believable".
His final reason of Maribe's involvement is that she and Jowie were spotted at Club 40 Forty almost immediately after the incident and later in the same car when it was spotted near the scene of the crime.
Kasaine also narrates the events of the night of September 21, 2018, when he found Jowie bleeding at his gate and quotes Maribe telling him "he shot himself".
"He was shouting at his fiancee Jacqueline Maribe immediately he saw her there saying 'you want me out of your house, it is fine, bury me in Lang'ata' then went quiet. Jacqueline didn't answer him," the statement by Kasaine reads.
Jowie then told Kasaine to secure the weapon.
Kasaine says they could not get Jowie admitted to Lang'ata Hospital and Nairobi West Hospital without Sh50,000 as a deposit.
It was not until the following evening that Jowie went to Lang'ata Hospital for dressing. He passed by the Lang'ata police station where the matter was reported as a shooting incident.
"He said he had been advised to do so," Kasaine says in the statement.