Lucy Njeri Muhami says she is lucky to be alive after allegedly cheating death in a dangerous situation that involved her husband and the purported hitmen he had reportedly hired to eliminate her.
Narrating her story, which depicts a movie script, Njeri claimed that her spouse, Nelson Ndereba Njeru, orchestrated her murder, but she negotiated an unusual deal with her would-be-killer.
Njeri and Njeru have lived in Canada for years and both are professional athletes, with the latter boasting of a two-decade career while the former has been in the game for a decade. The duo has individually won numerous races and a share of the money received has been invested in properties.
Unlike in previous years, Njeri told the Nation that this time she was traveling alone but Njeru would later join her for the festive season.
On November 16, 2022, the woman left Canada with three suitcases and a sling leather bag. Her husband was with her at Toronto Airport.
She claims Njeru had hired a chauffeur to pick her up at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) and would be her chauffer for the days she was to stay in Nairobi before moving to their rural home in Nairobi.
On arrival the following day at 10 pm, the driver was waiting for her. She spotted him because he was holding a placard bearing her name.
She says she was ushered to Toyota van and here the many twists start. Inside the car was another man but she assumed he was a colleague of her driver.
According to her, she observed something strange when they were exiting the airport pay point. Her diver was assisted to pay by another driver of a car that was behind them.
“My driver seemed unaware of what to do. I was pleasantly surprised and asked him if that generosity was the norm. My last time in the country was in 2019 and I could see a lot had changed, so I thought of asking them that,” she said.
Things started to unfold when they were out of the airport vicinity after connecting to Mombasa road. The other passenger jumped from his seat and attacked her. All this time, the car whose driver helped them pay at the airport was trailing them.
Strangulation
As he strangled her, they told her of the firm instructions they had received from Njeru to eliminate her. She claims they were clear that she could not doubt them, especially after they produced an audio clip to prove how the circus was planned.
Some of the things she was supposed to surrender before her execution included documents she was carrying and money in dollars.
Njeri alleges she pleaded with the hitmen to spare her life, promising to top the Ksh1.5 million they had been paid to do the job. She offered Ksh2 million, committed with $10,000 that was in her bag, and surprisingly they agreed.
They drove her to a hotel in Mwiki where she spent the night under the watch of the gang. The following day they ensured the transaction was completed.
She claims she befriended the hitmen and met them several times after to the point they trusted her and shared the clip.
Njeru refused to comment.
However, the Head of Serious Crimes Unit at the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) Michael Sang said the story has glaring loopholes.
For instance, Sang notes that it is puzzling that she was booked into a hotel by her killers and never raised the alarm. She narrated that she had breakfast with them.
Also, it is unfathomable that her husband had directed professional hitmen to dump her body at Karura Forest, a fenced zone under security round the clock, and the alleged killers never suggested another location.
Furthermore, how did she complete such a huge transaction in record time?
Njeri has now filed for divorce, citing the murder plot, and it is thought she might have manufactured the story to justify her move.
