How string of lies exposed Jowie as heartless, calculating killer

The court did not establish a clear motive or pin down direct evidence of a murder plan. Prosecutors did not produce the murder weapon. So, how did the judge conclude that Joseph Irungu, alias Jowie, murdered Monica Kimani?

Monica, 28, lived in Juba, South Sudan, where she ran a family business. She landed at JKIA at 5.45 pm on September 19, 2018, and took a taxi to her house in Kilimani, Nairobi.

That night, four people visited her apartment, No A8, one of whom was a man in a white kanzu, grey jacket, and a maroon cap. He presented an ID at the gate identifying himself as Dominic Bisera Harun. After the guards sought and received authorisation from Monica, Harun was allowed to proceed to her apartment.

Witness Lee Omondi told the court that he visited Monica that night from around 9.15 pm and met her with two men, whom she identified as Dabool Walid, a neighbour, and Joe, a security officer with Interpol and the Office of the President.

Witness Anthony Kariuki did not meet Monica in her apartment, but she came down to the parking lot and told him she had visitors, including a Lebanese neighbour and a security official.

Dabool was the first to leave Monica’s house, and Omondi followed at 10.45 pm, leaving her with the security official.

A protected witness testified that Harun, or Joe, was the last person to leave Monica’s apartment at 11.21 pm.

Her brother George Kimani testified that Monica was scheduled to visit their mother the next day before flying out to Dubai. But the family could not reach her on the phone on September 20, 2018.

George and his girlfriend, Beatrice, went to Kilimani’s place to check on her. The house was locked, but they could hear water pouring inside, and her TV was on.

With the assistance of the caretaker and the gardener, they accessed the house through the balcony and found a gruesome sight. Monica’s butchered body lay in the bathtub, with a mobile phone next to it and water from the shower running over it.

Pictures taken by detectives at the scene showed bloodstains on the floor in the sitting room and on the sofa sets. Monica’s hands and one leg were tied, and her mouth was sealed with masking tape. She had deep cuts in her neck.

As police investigated, they discovered that Jowie had recorded a statement at Lang’ata police station on September 20, 2018, claiming he had been attacked by thugs at Royal Park Estate in Lang’ata, That’s where he lived with his girlfriend, Citizen TV news anchor Jacqueline Maribe. He reported to police that he had suffered a gunshot wound to the chest.

Police found the gun involved in the alleged shooting incident and arrested Jowie. He was subjected to an identification parade, where he was identified as the man last seen with Monica on the night she was killed.

His girlfriend Maribe was also arrested on the grounds that Jowie used her vehicle during his visit to Monica, and evidence had placed Maribe within the vicinity of the crime scene.

Jowie denied knowing Monica. He also denied knowing one Dominic Bisera Harun, whose ID was used to gain access to Monica’s house. He denied wearing a white kanzu, grey jacket, and maroon cap to Monica’s house, and denied that he had burnt the clothes after killing her.

Jowie said he lied in his statement at Lang’ata police station that he had been attacked by thugs because it was his friend, Brian Kasaine, who came up with that story, as he (Kasaine) was holding the gun illegally.

The accused testified that he suffered an injury to his chest while drunk when the gun he had (belonging to Kasaine) went off accidentally during an argument with Maribe at home.

But Monica’s brother testified that he had been a student at the (now-defunct) Kenya Polytechnic with Jowie and that the accused knew his sister. He said was with her on the night she died.

Pathologist Dr Peter Ndegwa concluded that the cause of Monica’s death was severe neck injuries due to sharp force trauma, and that the weapon used to inflict the injuries was a sharp object.

The court agreed with the prosecution that Jowie stole the Harun’s ID and used it to disguise himself and gain entry to Monica’s apartment.

Witnesses testified that Jowie wore a brown shorts, T-shirt, grey coat, and maroon cap, and later wore a white kanzu over those clothes to disguise himself.

The debris of burnt material recovered outside the house where Jowie and Maribe lived was believed to be remnants of the white kanzu.

A short recovered from Jowie’s house contained Monica’s blood, and telephone records showed he had communicated with her.

A video clip retrieved from Jowie’s phone revealed that he had earlier been to Monica’s apartment with her brother.

Jowie argued that the case against him was based on circumstantial evidence that did not meet the required threshold of credibility and veracity. He claimed the identification parade he was subjected to was flawed and that he was not Joe or Harun, who was the person last seen with Monica on the night she was killed.

The court established that Jowie knew Monica well. He used a stolen ID to gain access to her apartment. The clothes he wore on that day implicated him in the murder. Jowie was in Monica’s house on the day she was killed and was the last person seen with her.

The court concluded that Jowie was armed with a gun that night and used the weapon to subdue Monica before hacking her to death.

Evidence showed that on August 31, 2018, Jowie and Monica’s brother, George, visited her. The two men slept on the sofas in the sitting room, while Monica and George’s girlfriend, Beatrice, shared the bed. Jowie did not challenge this evidence.

The court found that Maribe gave detectives misleading information about Jowie’s shooting and his other attempts to cover up Monica’s murder. However, she did not in any way take part in the crime. She had never communicated with Monica, visited her house, or had a motive to kill her.

The court could not understand why Jowie carried a different set of clothes (especially the kanzu) on the night he visited Monica’s house; why he changed clothes in the car; why he stole an ID and used it to enter Monica’s residence; why he burnt the clothes he wore that night; why he shot himself and lied to police officers that he had been attacked by robbers; and why he lied that he never knew Monica.

The court concluded that Monica’s murder was premeditated and methodical. “Further, when one looks at the photographs produced showing how the deceased’s neck or throat was slit, they are not worth a second look. In fact, the slitting was not just done on the front part of the neck but all around,” the court found.

Monica died a very painful and cruel death. It was a grisly death.”

On February 9, 2024, Judge Grace Nzioka convicted Jowie of the murder of Monica Kimani and acquitted Maribe. Jowie was sentenced to death on March 13, 2024.