Three key witnesses testified in the High Court on Wednesday, directly linking prime suspect John Matara to the brutal murder of socialite Starlet Wahu in his ongoing trial.
Their accounts, supported by bloodstains, CCTV footage, and a towel, have painted a chilling picture of the events leading up to Wahu’s tragic death.
The first witness, Charity Muthoni Irungu, a short-stay apartment host at Meridian Court in South B Sana Sana, shared a detailed account of her involvement on the night of the murder.
In her testimony before Justice Alexander Muteti of the Milimani High Court, Muthoni recalled receiving a call from her friend Jane Wairimu on January 3, 2024, asking if she had a vacant house to host a client.
“I told her that all my places were fully booked,” Muthoni said.
However, she managed to secure a house through another host, Florence Ngina, who was a friend.
Muthoni told the court that the client, Matara, had specifically requested an apartment with a balcony and asked for photos to ensure it met his requirements.
“Wairimu insisted to me that her client insisted that he wants a house with a balcony. He asked for photos, including the balcony photos, which were sent, and the client expressed satisfaction with the house,” Muthoni told the judge.
Muthoni confirmed the client’s satisfaction and then relayed the details to Ngina, who confirmed the availability of the house.
At around 5:50 PM, the guest arrived.“Matara knocked and told us he was the one who had booked the apartment,” Muthoni said. “He was dressed in a black cap and a casual outfit and was ready to check in.”
The witnesses told the court that Matara confirmed his identity and the booking details before entering the house.
After confirming Matara’s details, Muthoni and Wairimu briefly stepped away, allowing him to get settled.
Wairimu told Muthoni that Matara said he would pay for a one-night stay, but he would pay in cash.
The court heard that Wairimu sent a cleaning lady to the apartment to collect the Sh3,000 payment. Muthoni then deposited Sh2,500 into Ngina’s account via M-Pesa, and sent Wairimu a Sh500 commission.
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Later that evening at around 10:30 pm, Muthoni testified that she received a missed call from Ngina. Upon returning the call at 10:40 pm, Ngina delivered alarming news that she had been alerted by the house security guard.
“Ngina called me and said the security guard at Papino Apartments had informed her that the client left the house with a towel soaked in blood, and it appeared as though someone had been left behind in the house room,” Muthoni said.
Alarmed, Ngina asked Muthoni to accompany her to the scene at the Papino Apartments.
Upon arrival, Muthoni reported seeing blood stains in the building’s elevator. Peeping into the room, she saw the lifeless body of a woman, her head lying in a pool of blood.
“I saw a woman, naked, bent over with her head on the floor, covered in blood. I didn’t enter the room. I quickly went downstairs to tell Ngina and Wairimu of the disturbing sight. We reported the matter to Hazina Police Station,” Muthoni said.
The second key witness, Joseph Ndung’u, a security guard at Solace Park Apartments, recounted his observations from the night of January 3, 2024.
Ndung’u, who had a clear view of the Papino Apartments from his post, was sitting on the veranda at around 9:00pm when he noticed a man exiting Papino Apartments.
“I saw a man leaving the building with a white towel around his neck. He was wearing blue T-shirt and brownish khaki trousers. When I looked closely, I could see blood stains on his trousers,” Ndung’u testified.
Alarmed by this sight, Ndung’u immediately went to the Papino Apartments to inform the security guard on duty, Mr Gitau.
“I asked Gitau if he had seen the man I had just spotted. He said he hadn’t. We decided to check the CCTV footage from the building’s security room to see which floor the man had come from,” Ndung’u explained.
The footage showed the man exiting the building from the fourth floor. They followed a trail of blood stains leading to apartment Y32, but the door was locked.
“Gitau called the apartment owner, and when the owner arrived, we couldn’t get into the apartment because the door was locked,” Ndung’u recalled.
Gitau contacted the police, who arrived at the scene and discovered the body of a woman. The victim was identified as Starlet Wahu.
Ndung’u described the victim lying lifeless in a pool of blood.
He was also able to describe the suspect before the court, whom he identified as John Matara, based on the towel, the bloodstains, and the man’s appearance in the CCTV footage.
The third witness, Antony Wafula, a welding instructor at the Mukuru Promotion Centre, also provided critical testimony regarding Matara’s condition on the night of the murder.
Wafula revealed that on January 3, 2023, he had been contacted by Deborah Kemunto, Matara’s sister, who requested him to visit South B Hospital and check on her brother.
“Deborah called me and said her brother had been stabbed. She asked if I could go and check on him at the hospital since I lived nearby,” Wafula explained.
Upon arriving at the hospital, Wafula said he found Matara in the waiting area with visible wounds on his hands and legs.
“He was waiting for further treatment. The wounds on his legs and hands had already been dressed,” Wafula said.
“The report I got from doctors was that he could not be attended at the facility and he was referred to Mbagathi Hospital,” he said.
Wafula hired a boda boda to take Matara to Mbagathi Hospital for further treatment, where he was taken to the emergency room and remained for several hours.
“While there, three police officers arrived after two hours and told me they were investigating a murder case. That’s when I realized what had happened,” Wafula explained.
Wafula noticed that Matara was wearing a blood-soaked towel while at Mbagathi.
The police later arrested Matara, and Wafula was taken to the Industrial Area Police Station along with him.
The prosecution sought to introduce CCTV footage from the Papino Apartments that would corroborate the witness testimonies. However, Matara’s defense lawyers, James Mochere and Samuel Ayora, objected to the playing of the footage.
They argued that they had not been informed in advance about the footage and the particulars of the day. They also contended that the footage was unnecessary for identifying the apartment and the suspect.
Judge Muteti overruled the defense’s objection, stating that the footage would be presented on the next hearing dates fixed for July 28 and 30 2025 at 11 am.
Judge Muteti rejected the defense’s objection, ruling that the footage will be presented during the next hearing dates scheduled for July 28 and 30, 2025, at 11 am.
Matara has been charged with the murder of Wahu but has denied the allegations.
