Fresh twist as police present G3 rifle allegedly used to murder MP George Muchai
The weapon was allegedly recovered from the home of one of the accused individuals.
The trial over the murder of former Kabete MP George Muchai took a new twist after police presented a G3 rifle in court, which they claim was used in the killing.
The weapon was allegedly recovered from the home of one of the accused individuals.
Testifying before trial Judge Kanyi Kimondo, Senior Sergeant Francis Ole Sangila stated that police also found two rounds of ammunition at the doorstep of the fifth accused, Jane Wanjiru.
The bullets had been concealed beneath a concrete stone, making them difficult to spot. Alongside the firearm, officers retrieved a gun pin, two balaclavas, and a pair of pliers, with the ammunition stored in a black polythene bag.
A postmortem report confirmed that Muchai died from a single close-range shot fired from a high-velocity gun.
During cross-examination, defense lawyer Stephen Ogalo questioned whether the recovered balaclavas had undergone DNA analysis. Sangila admitted he was unaware, as forensic testing was the responsibility of the investigating officer.
"Do you know if any of these exhibits were examined for fingerprints?" Ogalo posed.
Sangila responded that he was not aware of any such analysis, even though he was the officer who recovered the gunpin.
Sangila explained that the pin had been widely handled by members of the public before it was taken in as evidence, making fingerprint testing less useful.
Court records indicate that a taxi driver, who had allegedly transported one of the accused on the morning of the murder, found the gunpin in his vehicle.
He claimed in his testimony that he wrapped it in paper before handing it over to police.
However, Sangila disputed this account, maintaining that the pin was not wrapped when it was handed over.
Further scrutiny also revealed that the taxi driver's vehicle registration and license details were not presented in court.
This raised questions from Ogalo about the reliability of the prosecution's claim that the driver had transported Mustapha Kimani, one of the accused, after the killing.
Despite these inconsistencies, Sangila insisted that the driver knew Kimani well and had dropped him off at his residence after the incident.
The accused individuals; Eric Isabwa alias Chairman, Raphael Kimani alias Kim Butcher, Mustapha Kimani alias Musto, Stephen Astiva alias Chokore, Jane Wanjiru alias Shiro, Margaret Njeri, and Simon Wambugu have all denied involvement in the murder.
According to police, the arrests were made after investigators tracked phone records linking the accused to one another.
Assistant Superintendent of Police Stephen Mwangi testified that the suspects were in continuous communication before and after the murder, exchanging over 250 calls.
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