Three witnesses in the murder of socialite Starlet Wahu on Tuesday, March 11, 2025, recounted to court how they met the prime suspect in the murder, John Matara, in South B on January 3, 2024.
Appearing before Judge Alexander Muteti at the Milimani High Court, Antony Wafula, a welding instructor at Mukuru Promotion Centre, told the court that he first met the suspect at the South B hospital after his colleague sent him to check on him.
Wafula told the court that the colleague Deborah Kemunto, a food and beverage instructor, requested he visits the brother since he lived near the health facility where he was receiving treatment.
“On January 3, 2024, I received a call from my colleague Deborah Kemunto telling me to visit her brother in South B hospital where he was receiving treatment for sharp stabs,” Wafula told the court.
Wafula visited the facility and inquired from the security guards at the gate about the patient he was visiting and was directed to where he was.
Matara taken to Mbagathi
He went ahead and found that he had received first aid and was waiting for further treatment.
Later, the doctors at the facility informed him that he could not be attended further at the facility, and they were referring him to Mbagathi Hospital for further treatment.
“The report I got from doctors was that he could not be attended to at the facility, and he was being referred to Mbagathi Hospital for further treatment,” Wafula told the court.
Wafula took the accused to Mbagathi with a motorbike, and on reaching there, he was taken to emergency, and treatment commenced immediately.
Two hours later, three policemen arrived at Mbagathi Hospital and informed him that they were pursuing Matara for a murder incident, and they were both arrested and taken to the Industrial Area police station.
He was later released on January 5, 2024.
Meanwhile, Joseph Ndung’u, a security guard at Solace Park Apartment who was on night duty on January 3, 2024, recounted how he noticed the accused going out of the directly opposite apartment with a white towel wrapped around his neck.
Ndung’u told the court that on a closer look he noticed the man had blood stains in his goldish khaki trousers and went looking out for Papino Apartment security guard by the name of Gitau to alert him.
“The gentleman was in a black cap, a blue t-shirt, and a goldish khaki trouser, and on closer observation, the trouser had blood stains. I immediately looked for Papino Security guard and alerted him on what I had seen,” Ndung’u recounted.
CCTV footage
In his response to Ndung’u, Gitau said that he had not seen the gentleman and asked him to accompany him to the security guard room and check the building CCTV footage to see the house the gentleman came from.
“We saw the gentleman was from the fourth floor and followed blood stains, which took us to the house, which was door number Y32,” Ndung’u told the court.
He further stated that they did not access the house since it was closed, prompting Gitau to call the lady who had rented the house, informing her that there were blood stains from her house.
Charity Muthoni Irungu, the third witness and a short-stay house host in South B, took to the dock, telling the court that she received a call from a business colleague, Jane Wairimu, inquiring whether she had a vacant house.
Wairimu informed Muthoni that her houses were full, and she had a client who wanted a one-bedroom house with a balcony.
Unfortunately, Muthoni’s short-stay houses were also full, and they agreed that she reach out to her friend, who is also a host at Papino Apartment Florence Ngina.
Luckily, Ngina had an exact description of the house, and she sent photos to her colleague, who forwarded them to the client, and he settled on it.
Paying in cash
At around 5:50 pm, Jane informed them that the client was already at the apartment and he had insisted on paying in cash, which she had received, and was sending a cleaner to take the amount to them, which was Ksh3,000.
Muthoni and Ngina were in the house when the client arrived, and they excused themselves, letting him in.
However, Ngina refused to take the payment in cash, and Muthoni took the cash and transferred Ksh2,500 to her and sent the balance of Ksh500 to Jane as commission.
“Florence said she does not want cash, and since I needed some cash, I transferred Ksh2,500 to her and Ksh500 to Jane as commission for the client,” Muthoni told the court.
Muthoni also told the court that later at 10:30 pm she got a missed call from Ngina, and on returning it at 10:40 pm, she informed her that the security guard at Papino Apartment had informed her that her client left the house in a blood-stained towel.
She then picked up Jane, who is also her cousin, from her place in Pipeline and visited the apartment, and on reaching the house, she saw a lady kneeling in a pool of blood near a couch, which was near the door.
“The house was open, so I peeped and saw a naked lady bending on her knees with her head on the floor, which was full of blood,” Muthoni recounted to court.
The three business ladies later reported the incident to Hazina Police Station and accompanied police officers to the crime scene.
More witnesses are expected to testify on the matter before Judge Alexander Muteti on July 28, 2025, and July 30, 2025.
