Uhuru Market murder suspect appears in borrowed trousers after police take his for DNA test

A murder suspect who was arrested at Uhuru Market for allegedly stabbing a woman has been presented before court on a miscellaneous application.

The suspect, Augustine Neto Amwayi, was arraigned before Makadara Principal Magistrate Joseph Karanja for stabbing Felister Kalekye Kitua, his ex-lover, to death.

Amwayi, however, claimed that he has not been given access to a telephone and had not contacted his family pertaining his June 6 arrest.

He also told the court he did not have proper clothing as police officers had confiscated his pair of trousers.

“I borrowed these trousers from my inmate who is likely to take them back once I return to the police cells,” Amwayi said.

Naville Mwabili, the investigating officer, however, told the court that Amwayi’s trousers were kept as an exhibit since they contained blood stains suspected to be that of the deceased person.

“The trousers have been submitted to the Government Chemist for DNA analysis to establish whether the stains match the deceased’s blood,” Mwabili told the court.

The magistrate, however, questioned why the officer had not arranged for the suspect to have another pair of trousers if the one he had worn was an exhibit. 

On the fateful day, members of the public reported that Kitua had been stabbed using a kitchen knife four times by the suspect while at her place of work in Uhuru Market, where she knitted school uniforms.

According to the affidavit by the investigating officer, the deceased succumbed due to injuries inflicted by the respondent.

Police from Jogoo and Buruburu police stations visited the scene and found the body lying on the floor. It was later evacuated to Mama Lucy Kibaki's morgue awaiting postmortem.

With the help of members of the public, the suspect was identified and arrested. Mwabili urged the court not to release the suspect on any terms since he was a flight risk owing to the fact that he had no known abode.

While asking for 21 more days to hold the suspect in custody,  the investigating officer said he was yet to record witness statements, ascertain the cause of death, take him for mental assessment, and needed to bar the respondent from interfering with the witnesses.

Additionally, the affidavit states that holding the suspect in custody would save him from mob justice.

Officer Mwabili, who was given a day to find the suspect another pair of trousers, was granted the orders he had earlier sought after the suspect appeared in court on the second day.

He seemed content in black trousers as opposed to the yellow ones he had borrowed from his inmate.

The matter will be mentioned on  June 25.