After over 20 months on the run, the murder suspect accused of killing his 63-year-old employer in Murang’a on September 22, 2022, has finally been apprehended.
This prolonged period of evasion has inflicted immense distress and grief on the victim’s family, who have been desperately seeking justice for their loved one.
Fred Murunga was arrested by detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) on Tuesday, June 11, 2024, at the premises of a security firm in Ruiru, where he was seeking employment.
Murunga had worked as the deceased’s farmhand for one and a half months and was staying at his home in Kerandi village, Kigumo, Murang’a County.
“The report filed at Ngonda Police Station indicated that on the fateful morning, the suspect sent a 12-year-old grandchild of the late Mzee Paul Njuguna Kamau to a nearby shop, and while he was away, turned against his employer with a machete,” the DCI reported.
The juvenile returned moments later to find his grandfather locked in the kitchen, crying out in agonizing pain.
The rest of the family members were apparently away, and the young boy had gone to visit his grandfather to bring him some breakfast.
The minor raised the alarm, drawing the attention of villagers who flocked to the homestead. Along with the local police, who had also been alerted, the responders broke into the kitchen only to find Mzee’s body drenched in blood.
Beside him lay the suspected murder weapon, a machete. Enraged neighbors, who were baying for Murunga’s blood, searched for him in vain.
The suspect had allegedly disappeared with the deceased’s motorcycle and mobile phone.
Kigumo DCI officers took up the case, launching a manhunt for the killer farmhand. Preliminary investigations revealed that the deceased’s motorcycle and mobile phone were sold in Eldoret.
