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Two more Meru county employees were yesterday arrested in connection with the brutal murder of blogger Daniel Muthiani alias Sniper as preliminary investigations reveal the killing was planned and executed by local county officials.

The arrest brings to seven the total number of suspects arrested among them Governor Kawira Mwangaza’s staff and relatives. One of the suspects arrested yesterday has been identified as Brian Mwenda.

Circumstantial evidence has linked the governor’s office to the murder with detectives saying it was unlikely that killers acted without her knowledge or consent.

Detectives have analysed call data of the suspects and established a clear pattern of communication before the killing.

“There was constant but unusual communication between the suspects before and even after the murder of Sniper,” one of the detectives said.

The Eastern Region DCI boss Lenny Kisaka said they had identified and visited several scenes including where the body was dumped and the governor’s residence.

In the reconstruction of the crime, Homicide detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) headquarters on Saturday declared the governor’s residence a crime scene but the probe had not established if it was the primary or secondary crime scene.

A primary crime scene is where the actual crime occurred while a secondary crime scene is related to the crime but not the actual place where the crime was committed, like where the body was dumped.

Common intention

Focus has also shifted to the governor, whose culpability is yet to be established. The probe seeks to establish the mastermind or masterminds of the plan to eliminate Sniper and how the killers were procured.

When two or more people form a common intention to commit an offence in conjunction with one another, each of them is deemed to have committed the offence.

Equally, anything said or done by any of them is a relevant fact against each of them.

The probe is conducted by a team of detectives from the Directorate of Homicide led by Martin Nyuguto and officers from Meru DCI. “A team of Homicide and Forensic scientists visited the residence since it has been mapped as one of the major scenes we are visiting and carrying out investigations. We will collect everything that is necessary to ensure Sniper gets justice,” Kisaka said on Saturday.

Kisaka urged members of the public to be patient, promising justice will be served. The investigations have so far led to arrest of five suspect among them Mwangaza’s brother and bodyguard Kenneth Murangiri Guantai, Director of Protocol in her government Kenneth Matiri alias Kasigi, Fredrick Kiugu, Frankline Kimathi and Timothy Kinoti.

In an application filed at Kiambu Magistrate’s Court, detectives want the suspects detained at Muthaiga Police Station for 21 days to enable them complete investigations.

Sniper disappeared on December 2, 2023 before his body was recovered dumped in a thicket on the banks of River Mutonga in Tharaka Nithi on December 16.

Sniper had, in his social media posts, recorded videos criticising Governor Mwangaza and according to DCI, the suspects had told him that the governor wanted them to work together.

Another suspect

In the application, DCI said another suspect, who is also in custody named Vincent Murithi alias Supuu or Mioro lured the deceased through a phone call that the county boss wanted to meet him for truce before he travelled from his home at Kabuitu in Igembe South.

“The deceased was lured through a phone call to come and meet the governor whom he used to publicly criticise so that they can make peace and work together,” the application.

On Friday evening, during a live interview with some local stations, the governor denied the allegations that Sniper visited her residence and called on the investigation team to carry out their mandate and ensure justice is served to the family.

“I have seen a lot in my political career so I have decided to keep quiet and watch the detectives do their work but I have never seen Sniper in my residence,” said Mwangaza.

The governor also said her residence had CCTV cameras and asked detectives to analyse it to confirm if the blogger ever came calling.

Chief Government Pathologist Johansen Oduor who conducted the postmortem on December 22 said the deceased was tortured before being strangled.

Dr Benjamin Kanake, also a pathologist and who attended the autopsy on behalf of the family said he was shocked by the brutality meted on the deceased. “There are no differences that should cause people to resort to such cruelty against their fellow human beings,” he said.