Murdered Nairobi Hospital acting Finance Officer Erick Maigo interacted with at least four women hours before he was brutally murdered, preliminary investigations reveal.

 The main suspect, who was arrested on Tuesday night, was yesterday arraigned at Milimani Law Courts where detectives requested for more days to detain her as they conclude investigations. So far, a total of four women have been grilled and their statements recorded.

Detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) Operation Action Team on Tuesday night tracked down and arrested the main suspect in Bombolulu, Kibera.

Preliminary investigations have revealed that as the deceased was driving home, he saw the girl who stopped his car, and inquired why she was out that late. The girl claimed she had been chased away by the aunt and had not eaten. Maigo told her he had carried some roast meat and salad and asked her to accompany him home so that she could eat.

On reaching the house, Maigo gave the girl some whisky which she refused to take, saying she does not take alcohol. Maigo then brought her some juice. She told the detectives after taking the juice she started feeling dizzy and blacked out. She gained consciousness at around 4am and found herself naked next to the deceased. She further said she went to the kitchen and picked a knife which she used to stab the deceased who still appeared drunk. She panicked and plotted how to escape from the house.

According to the detectives she was hiding at a friend’s house in the Bombolulu area when detectives who had been tipped off arrived at about 8pm.

Maigo’s lifeless body was found in a pool of blood on September 15. Autopsy confirmed he was stabbed 25 times. The 16-year-old has been on the run since last week Thursday after DCI released her photos as the main suspect. Prior to the arrest, the mother of the minor had previously come out and defended her daughter, saying she was innocent.

Heinous crime

In an interview with the local press, her mother, Nyawira, expressed belief that her daughter was not involved in the heinous crime. According to her account, the girl left home late night while she was sleeping on the day the crime was committed. “She left the house abruptly after we had slept at around 11pm on Thursday night,” Nyawira said.

Shed further revealed that her girl came home with visible bruises.

“On Friday morning I saw her with bruises and we saw the story in the news that she had killed someone and when we asked her, she was shocked and asked we do not proceed with the same conversation,” she added.

When inquired about the injuries, she told her mother that she had been involved in a fight with two unidentified men but was unwilling to divulge more details.

The mother is known as ‘Mama Fua’ due to her work of washing clothes for a living. Police got information about the minor’s residence after they raided and mounted a tactical sting in reference to the murder of the Finance Officer.It was in a semi-permanent wooden walled iron sheet roofed house in Bombolulu village where they recovered clothes believed to be worn by the suspect on the said day.

The clothes recovered were similar to those shown in the CCTV footage released by DCI; a red checkered shirt and a grey pair of animal-print pants. Details by the police reveal the minor sat for KCPE at an approved school between 2021 and 2022.

The CCTV footage showed the minor leaving the residence of Maigo at Woodley Annex-Upper through the back door and then jumping via the electric fence.  “The minor who was captured leaving the victim’s residence at Woodley Annex -Upper is believed to have been involved in the murder most-foul before escaping through the back door,” DCI said in a statement last week.

At the scene of the crime, two blood-stained knives believed to be the murder weapons were recovered.

Loud music

Neighbours of Maigo said they heard the two arrive at home and loud music was playing until late at night. It was until the following day that they heard him groan in pain.

They went to his door and knocked but were confronted by a woman who informed them all was well and she was looking for the keys to open. The woman peeped through the window, claiming she could not locate the key.

The lady’s refusal to open the door is what prompted the neighbours to alert security at the compound who prohibited anyone from leaving as the matter was reported to the police.

The officers arrived at the scene when the suspect had left with the rear door flung open and Maigo’s body lying on the floor. The killer used two knives in the attack. According to the police, after the first knife became bloody, the killer sought a second one, and fingerprints on the recovered weapons show the murder was conducted by one person.

On Monday, a court in Nairobi released a suspect, Cynthia Andalo, who had been arrested after being linked to the murder. The prosecution said they had no evidence to charge or even continue detaining the alleged suspect.

Investigations, however, revealed the deceased met the woman at a restaurant before they proceeded to his car at the parking lot where they stayed for about 20 minutes.

Earlier last week, the prosecution had applied that the woman be detained for five more days to allow them to conclude the investigations.

“After Investigations, we have forwarded the file to the Office of the Directorate of Public Prosecutions and there was no sufficient evidence to charge the respondent herein,” prosecutor told the court.

The miscellaneous file has been closed and the woman set free.

Crime scene investigators and forensic analysts examined Andalo’s fingerprints and other evidence recovered from the crime scene and failed to make a match.