The High Court was on Tuesday set to hear more evidence in the trial of four police officers and their informer charged with the 2016 murder of lawyer Willie Kimani, his client Josephat Mwenda and taxi driver Joseph Muiruri.
A new witness, identified in court documents as number 40 was expected to introduce new evidence in form of a recorded video confession.
The testimony of Peter Ngugi, the fifth accused person in the case was on Monday read out in an open court with a blow by blow account on how the three victims were trailed, abducted and finally killed in cold blood.
Four Police Officers Fredrick Leliman, Stephen Cheburet, Sylvia Wanjiku, and Leonard Mwangi are charged alongside Ngugi with the murder of the three.
So far, 39 prosecution witnesses have testified in the trial of the 2016 murders that shocked the nation and exposed the dark side of the police whose management always speak against executions.
In the Monday confession that was read out by an officer at the Directorate of Criminal Investigations Geoffrey Kinyua, Ngugi the fifth accused person in the case outlined how the three were trailed, arrested and eventually killed.
The witness said they started by trailing the victims after sergeant Fredrick ole Leliman told him about the plan to kill Mwenda who was a boda boda rider and had filed a case against him.
He went ahead to detail how he followed Mwenda to the Mavoko Law Courts where the case took about two hours, and when it ended, he emerged with Willie Kimani his advocate.
Four Police Officers Leliman, Stephen Cheburet, Sylvia Wanjiku, and Leonard Mwangi are charged alongside Ngugi with the 2016 murders that shocked the nation.
From Monday’s testimony, it was clear the trio were murdered as a result of Sergeant Frederick Leliman’s apparent imminent loss of his job was he to be found guilty in the court case that was filed in Mavoko.
The confession was read out to Justice Jessie Lesiit.
According to Ngugi, back in 2011 around Waithaka area, he was approached by the Officer In-charge of Kabete Police Station over claims that he was ferrying thieves. He denied the allegations but months later he took himself to the station and requested to see the OCS and agreed to be informing him over insecurity cases in the area as long as his officers would stop harassing him. Ngugi says they became friends and continued informing him until he was transferred to Bungoma.
It was until April 2016 that the OCS who had now been posted to Mlolongo Police Station in the same capacity called the bodaboda rider and asked him to visit him. In his testimony, Ngugi said the OCS was very happy to see him.
In one of the visits to the Station to see him, he was introduced to three police officers as his team, among them Seargent Leliman. In May 2016 while at the police post, Seargent Leliman approached him and told him he needed some assistance over an issue he had been agonising over.
The last week of May, Seargent Leliman called him and they met at Connection bar in Mlolongo where he told him that there was a person who was pushing for his removal and arraignment in court with the assistance of the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA). Allegedly Leliman said they had to finish the lawyer who he described as “kamutu ya nyama ndogo” which was interpreted to mean a small-bodied man and short in stature.
It was agreed that he would be at Athi River Law Courts on June 23 when Lawyer Kimani would present himself for a hearing and a certain lady would help him identify the target.
As expected lawyer, the lawyer showed up and upon the lady identifying him he tipped Leliman who together with Seargent Mwangi came up after a short while. Ngugi had patiently waited outside for the case that took two hours to end.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
When lawyer Kimani, his client (who Leliman claimed was a wanted thief” came out and entered their vehicle Sgt Mwangi approached them saying they were under arrest. They complied as told and the three entered Leliman’s car and took them to Syokimau Police Station.
Ngugi adds that he drove the taxi to Limuru and abandoned it at Kwambira and returned to Mlolongo where Leliman and Mwangi were waiting for him at a bar.
Together, they left for Syokimau Police Station where they ordered them to come out of the cells, handcuffed from behind, bundled them in the boot and drove them to a bush where for three hour’s could not agree to kill them on grounds that having arrested them “we had exposed ourselves”. But Mwangi claims Leliman and another insisted they had to be killed.
