Woman, daughter in South B murder were strangled, cops claim

A 73-year-old woman and her daughter, 48, were on Monday night found brutally murdered in their house in South B.

Judy Wanjiku Mwai, and her daughter Catherine Nyaguthi, were found dead in their bedrooms by a relative who visited the house after failing to reach them.

Nairobi police boss Philip Ndolo suspected Wanjiku had been strangled because a rope was found around her neck which was tied to the bed stand. She was found lying on her bed, facing down, with blood oozing from her mouth. 

The daughter, on the other hand, was found lying on the floor of her bedroom, about two metres from her bed. She had injuries on her neck which detectives said pointed to a possible strangulation. 

Apart from the ropes, no murder weapon was found in the house. Preliminary investigations indicated that nothing was stolen from the home, ruling out the possibility of robbery.

Detectives said there were signs of struggle in the two bedrooms, an indication that more than two people were involved in the gruesome murder.

The deceased were staying in the family house with Wanjiku’s  husband, who was ailing but was last month admitted in hospital. 

The night guard said he last saw the two on Sunday morning at around 1am when they were dropped off by a black Toyota Prado. 

Witness account

 They went into the house, came back and left in the same car. They came back at around 2am and the vehicle left.

One of the guards, Julius Famba, said the two would not miss going to church on Sunday and they wondered why they never left the house that day.

Ndolo yesterday said they were trying to establish the motive and the identity of the killers. 

“Preliminary investigations point to murder but we are yet to establish the motive. So far, no one has been arrested in connection to the killing,” he said.