Siaya: Police arrest woman, recover Ayieko's gun

A second suspect was Wednesday arrested and a gun belonging to slain Wells Fargo manager Willis Onyango Ayieko recovered from her in a gunfight on the outskirts of Siaya Town.

Police said the woman was with her boyfriend who is the main suspect in the murder of Ayieko.

The boyfriend escaped with bullet wounds in the clash.

According to police, the woman and her boyfriend were driving in a salon car when they were confronted on Wednesday morning prompting a gunfight.

This led to the injuries of the escaping suspect as he dropped a pistol that belonged to Ayieko.

Police said they found blood stains at the scene of the clash indicating he was injured.

The pistol was empty when it was recovered. Police want any medical facility that may attend to an injured person in the area to report to authorities.

“We believe the main suspect escaped with gunshot wounds and we appeal to the local health facilities that may get such a case to report it immediately,” said an officer aware of the probe.

A hunt was immediately launched in the area following the shootout with major roads to and out of Siaya Town being blocked.

The woman was taken into custody for interrogation.

The arrest is the second one after Monday’s in Nairobi’s Dandora area.

The arrest was made following a probe by multi-agency teams, police said.

The suspect was flushed out of his hideout in Nairobi's Dandora Phase IV Monday night, where he had rented a house using proceeds of the heinous crime, police said.

 The suspect was placed at the scene of crime through forensic analysis, and the forensic-led investigation is being conducted by a joint team of DCI's Homicide, CRIB, and Operations detectives.

The investigation is ongoing with the team analyzing crucial leads to uncover and arrest other accomplices, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) said.

He is said to have used Ayieko’s mobile phone to withdraw cash from an M-Pesa agency in the area.

Police say the suspect is an ex-convict and comes from the neighbouring Khwisero area.

An autopsy conducted on Ayieko’s body shows he died of head injuries. 

Chief government pathologist Dr Johansen Oduor said the injuries led to bleeding to the brain. 

“There was bleeding to the brain. Other than that there were bruises on the wrists caused by some cuffs found on him,” he said.

“There were also missing tissues on the mouth, ear and cheek."

He explained the missing tissues were a result of animal predation at the site where the body was found. 

The body was found swollen in a stream in Siaya County days after he had been murdered. 

“They were caused by water animals like fish and crabs. We found a dead crab on the clothes. We think they were targeting the soft parts of the body,” he said. 

Family pathologist Prof Emily Rogena was present. 

She said they agreed with the findings. 

The exercise was conducted at the Lee Funeral Home in Nairobi and was attended by the family, Siaya Governor James Orengo and MPs Sam Atandi and Elisha Odhiambo. 

Director of the homicide unit at the Directorate of Criminal Investigation Martin Nyuguto was present. 

The autopsy will also form the basis of the case detectives are preparing.

Ayieko was a licensed gun holder. His pistol with 14 bullets was among the valuables stolen from him. The gun was recovered on Wednesday morning.

Ayieko’s body was discovered in Mungowere stream in Yala, Siaya County on October 23 at 2 pm. 

The family had reported he was missing on Monday, October 21.
Police said the body was decomposed when it was discovered by a student. 

It had bruises on the face and stomach.

The body was half-naked and seemed to have been hit elsewhere before being dumped at the scene.