Phone records uncover web of communication among suspects in Muchai murder trial
Mwangi produced a detailed analysis matrix that mapped out the phone calls exchanged among the accused from February 1 to February 10, 2015.
A senior investigator told the High Court on Wednesday that the seven suspects accused of murdering former Kabete MP George Muchai were in constant communication with three others before and after the crime.
Testifying before Justice Kanyi Kimondo, Assistant Superintendent of Police Stephen Mwangi presented mobile data analysis showing that the accused exchanged more than 250 phone calls in the days leading up to and following the killings on February 7, 2015.
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Mwangi, who specialises in communication analysis, told the court that data retrieved from Safaricom and Airtel revealed intricate call patterns among the suspects.
On the night of the murder, he said, 193 calls were exchanged between the accused, with some individuals calling each other over 100 times.
"The data analysis shows Mustapha Kimani and Jane Wanjiru contacted each other 193 times. Kimani called Wanjiru 150 times, while she called him 43 times," Mwangi said.
Further analysis showed that Stephen Astiva had contacted Raphael Kimani 77 times, while Kimani had called him 33 times.
The records also pointed to frequent communication among the other accused persons, suggesting a well-coordinated plan.
Mwangi produced a detailed analysis matrix that mapped out the phone calls exchanged among the accused from February 1 to February 10, 2015.
He said the records were instrumental in piecing together the suspects' movements and eventual arrests.
He also told the court that a mobile number belonging to a prosecution witness, Jane Ngatu, who was robbed on the same night as the murders, was later traced to Simon Gichamba, the seventh accused person.
"The line that Gichamba was using had been inserted into a phone belonging to Ngatu. Based on that trace, we began the probe. And one arrest led to another," Mwangi explained.
The seven suspects are Eric Isabwa alias Chairman, Raphael Kimani Gachii alias Butcher, Mustapha Kimani alias Musto, Stephen Astiva Lipapo alias Chokore, Jane Wanjiru alias Shiro, Margaret Njeri, and Simon Gichamba. They are charged with murdering Muchai, his two bodyguards and his driver on Kenyatta Avenue.
A second witness, taxi driver Morris Njuguna, was also linked to three of the accused through call records.
"The analysis suggests a close relationship between the taxi driver and three of the suspects," Mwangi said.
Police say mobile signal tracking was critical in tracing the suspects, with key breakthroughs emerging from stolen phones linked to the crime.
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