The murder of 24-year-old Pauline Wangari, a prison warder attached to Murang’a GK Prison, shocked residents and colleagues in May 2019 after she was found dead in her rented house in Kiharu Estate.
Wangari had failed to report to work for two consecutive days, raising concern among her colleagues. On Wednesday morning, prison officials and colleagues went to her house, which was about 500 metres from the prison, and broke down the door after receiving no response.
Inside, they found Wangari’s body lying on her bed in a pool of blood. She had suffered multiple stab wounds to her chest, neck and abdomen.
Police said a kitchen knife was found in her hand, while a roll of bhang had reportedly been placed between her lips, details that initially raised questions over whether the scene had been staged to resemble suicide.
Investigators soon turned their attention to people who had been in contact with Wangari before her death. Her known boyfriend, Peterson Mwaura Njiru, was among those initially arrested.
He was later released after police withdrew the application to continue detaining him.
The investigation subsequently focused on Joseph Otieno Ochieng, a 24-year-old man whom Wangari had reportedly met through Facebook.
According to detectives cited by Citizen Digital, Ochieng travelled from Nairobi to Murang’a on Monday, May 13, 2019, to meet Wangari in person for the first time. Ochieng described their relationship to investigators as a friendship.
Police said CCTV footage showed Ochieng entering Wangari’s house at about 9pm and leaving in the early hours of Tuesday morning. Investigators also alleged that he was seen carrying some of Wangari’s belongings, including her bag, phone and television set, when he left the compound.
According to an account attributed to Ochieng by detectives, the pair spent part of the evening smoking bhang before an argument broke out.
He allegedly told investigators that Wangari refused to take other drugs he had brought with him, leading to a confrontation.
Investigators said Ochieng claimed he strangled Wangari during the argument and believed she had died after collapsing.
He then allegedly picked up a kitchen knife and stabbed her in the chest, neck and abdomen before placing the knife in her hand in an attempt to make the killing appear to be suicide.
The allegations were part of the police investigation and were not, at that stage, a judicial finding of guilt.
The suspect was arrested on May 16, 2019, at a roadblock in Kipsitet, Kericho County, while travelling towards western Kenya.
He was arrested alongside Rogers Namukolo and Mary Amollo, who were also treated as persons of interest as detectives continued investigating the case.
The investigation took another dramatic turn when detectives took Ochieng to his Nairobi residence to search for items believed to have been stolen from Wangari’s house.
Reports said he attempted to escape and later stabbed himself in the abdomen with a kitchen knife. Police subsequently recovered Wangari’s laptop and mobile phone from the house.
On May 17, Ochieng and the two other suspects were presented before a Murang’a court. Police sought additional time to complete investigations, citing the recovery of property and the need to establish what happened before and after Wangari’s death.
By the end of May, Ochieng had been subjected to a mental assessment and was found fit to stand trial.
He was subsequently charged with Wangari’s murder, while investigators continued pursuing the circumstances surrounding the killing and the alleged disappearance of property from her home.
The case attracted widespread attention because of the circumstances surrounding Wangari’s final hours, her meeting with Ochieng and the initial suspicion directed at her known boyfriend.
However, available reports show an important distinction: Wangari’s boyfriend was arrested during the initial investigation but was released, while Ochieng became the principal suspect and was charged with her murder.
The available 2019 court records confirm the murder proceedings, but a final publicly accessible judgment establishing the outcome of the case was not identified in the sources reviewed.