Moment cop went berserk and vowed to kill Magistrate Kivuti

It is the norm for court sessions to start with mentions before embarking on trials and rulings.

And this was the routine at Court Number 9 at Makadara, where Principal Magistrate Monica Kivuti presided.

She started with the traffic plea before switching to Jennifer Wairimu’s ruling.

Wairimu is said to be the wife of Chief Inspector Samson Kipchirchir Kipruto, the Londiani OCS who fatally shot Kivuti before he was also killed by armed court orderlies in the June 13 gun drama.

Kivuti directed the court users to have the ruling done at the tent because the accused (Wanjiru) was said to have been unwell and unable to walk.

Wairimu, according to court users, was then aided from her car to the tent where the ruling was to be delivered.

Meanwhile, Kipruto, like anyone else, sat at the back of the makeshift court awaiting the court’s verdict on the fate of his wife.

The defense counsel, Joyce Owino, had made an application to have her client maintain the bond terms, arguing that Wairimu had not been attending court as required since she was unwell.

The lawyer further told the court that Wairimu was on oxygen and could not walk, thus sending her into custody would worsen her condition.

But State counsel Myra Chepkwony objected to Owino’s application, saying no medical documents had been tabled before the court in support of her claims.

Kivuti then directed that Wairimu be remanded in custody pending a probation report. She further gave a directive for the accused to be accorded the right treatment, telling Owino that the facility would provide her client with the specialized treatment that she needed.

No sooner had the magistrate signed and placed the file aside than all hell broke loose as Kipruto went berserk.

Dashing from the magistrate’s entrance, the furious police commander drew a pistol and shot at a court orderly, hitting her in the right leg.

While pointing the Jericho pistol at Kivuti, he uttered: “Leo nitakumaliza na nijiue (today I will end your life and kill myself).”

According to one of the officers who witnessed the unfolding drama, Kivuti, who was caught completely off guard, raised her hands.

A shocked court clerk held the magistrate’s hand and asked her to lie on the floor. But it was too late; Kipruto fired at Kivuti. She suffered four bullet wounds to the chest, thigh, and pelvis.

The officer is said to have fired 12 shots before a prosecutor called for help from police officers Dorcas Sossy and Eunice Kimeu.

The two officers found Kivuti on the ground writhing in pain while Kipchirchir’s body lay in a pool of blood as a dumbfounded Wairimu stood still. She was ordered to sit down and stay calm.

Kimeu dashed to where the magistrate lay behind a bench. Kivuti whispered to the officer that she was in great pain.

Chief Magistrate Tito Gesora was informed that Kivuti had been injured and needed a car urgently.

The magistrate was carried to a car belonging to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations, which took her to Metropolitan Hospital.

On the way, Kivuti repeatedly said: “Oh my baby, I am in pain.” On arrival at the hospital, the magistrate begged for the baby to be brought to her.

“She was comforted that she would be well and she would be able to reunite with her baby,” said a court user who witnessed the incident.

Kivuti underwent surgery to remove a bullet lodged in her chest before being transferred to Nairobi Hospital.

The magistrate, according to those who interacted with her, was a soft-spoken and kind-hearted person who never took bribes as alleged on online platforms - she encouraged out-of-court settlements.

Meanwhile, at Londiani Police Station, an audit of inventory established that the Jericho pistol loaded with 15 rounds of ammunition and one Jericho pistol magazine which had been issued to Kipruto were missing.

Also missing from the cash box was Sh93,000 in cash bail money.