murder of three siblings
The following is a verbatim police account of a matter that has left a family distraught.
"The suspect one BRENDA WANJIRU KAGURU, a kikuyu female juvenile aged 15 years is the first born in a family of four. Her father is PETER KAGURU GICHUHI and her mother is CATHERINE WAMBUI NJUGUNA. She is currently a form one student at KAWETHEI GIRLS SECONDARY SCHOOL.
The family hails from Gikambura area of Kikuyu Sub County within Kiambu County. Her other siblings now deceased were:-
1) LIAM GICHUHI aged one year, 3 months
2) VALERIA MUTHONI aged 5 years.
3) RACHEAL WANJIRU aged 7 ½ rears.
All the above three children are now deceased having died under mysterious circumstances which made their parents to believe that the cause of their deaths might be natural however they all mysteriously died while under the care and presence of their elder sister BRENDA WANJIRU GICHUHI.
The incidents occurred on diverse dates between the months of JULY 2021 and SEPTEMBER 2021.
Briefly, on the 4th day of AUGUST 2022, BRENDA WANJIRU went to visit her grandmother at Gathiga in Kabete sub-county during the school mid-term holidays.
While there, an incident occurred on 16/08/2022 where by her cousin namely, MARTIN KIOGORA KARONGO aged 1 year, 8 months disappeared mysteriously while under her care within the compound of her grandmother. The mother to Martin Kiogora (MERCY GATWIRI) was in her shop which is just at the gate of the compound and when she noticed that she could not see her son, she asked BRENDA on the whereabouts of MARTIN KIOGORA but she confirmed that they were earlier together but she did not know where he had gone.
They searched for him within and outside the compound but they could not find him. His father was informed over the matter and when he arrived home, they decided to open the water well which is in the compound and was securely locked and upon checking inside, they found the body of MARTIN KIOGORA which was removed and taken to KIHARA HOSPITAL MORTUARY.
BRENDA went back to her parents’ home in Waithaka on 18/8/2022 and her parents escorted her back to KAWETHEI GIRLS SECONDARY SCHOOL on 19/08/2022.
Whilst in school on the 20th day of August 2022 at night, she borrowed a phone from one of the teachers and she called her parents where she informed them to tell KARONGO (her uncle and father to MARTIN KIAGORA) that she was the one who was responsible for the murder of Martin. Subsequently, her parents went to Kawethei Secondary school on 21/8/2022 and she confessed having murdered Martin Kiogora in front of teachers by drowning him in a water well and the teachers advised the parents to go home with her.
While still at the school with her parents, and in the presence of the teachers she confessed to have killed all her other three siblings as follows:-
On 14/7/2021, she murdered her brother by the name LIAM GICHUHI aged 1 year, 3 months by suffocating him with a pillow placed over his face for about 3-4 minutes until she confirmed that he was not breathing and she then covered him with a blanket.
On 7/08/2021, while at their home in Gikambura, she murdered her sister namely VALERIA MUTHONI aged 5 years by strangling her with a pillow placed on her face and later confirmed that her heart was not beating by feeling the pulse rate at the wrist.
On 25/9/2022, while still at their home in Gikambura, she murdered her sister namely RACHEAL WANJIRU aged 7 ½ by strangling her on the neck using her hands for about 10 mins and drowned her in a basin containing some water in the bathroom before pouring hot water on her face.
Having confessed all this, they went back home on the same day 21/8/2022 and on 26/8/2022, her parents availed themselves to DCI Kikuyu Office where her confession statement was recorded.
Her parents also recorded their statements and also the parents of Martin Kiogora were called and recorded their statements.
Brenda WANJIRU also confessed that while committing the offence; she normally gets a strange feeling and becomes very much excited and very happy after the act.
