Meru Governor Kawira Mwangaza’s son and brother are allegedly two of the five people detained in connection with the death of Meru blogger Daniel Muthiani, also known as Sniper.
In an application, the Director of Criminal Investigations (DCI) is requesting the detention of the five additional suspects in connection with the murder of Meru blogger Daniel Muthiani.
The DCI requested for Kenneth Mutua, Fredrick Muriuki, Frankline Kimathi, Timothy Kinoti, and Murangiri Kenneth be held for 21 days at the Muthaiga Police Station in order to allow their investigations to be completed.
The application was submitted to the Kiambu Magistrate Court.
The five suspects were taken into custody on January 4th in Meru County, and detectives from the investigation’s team booked them into several Kiambu and Nairobi County police stations.
“That from the time the respondents were arrested and the time to conclude the investigations has not been adequate and the applicant requires 21 days to enable the conclusion of the investigations while the respondent are in police custody,” the application read.
The application claims that the five accused tricked the Meru blogger into a false meeting with Meru Governor Mwangaza, whom he was publicly criticizing.
They alleged that she wanted to reach an agreement with him.
After leaving his house in Igembe South to meet the five suspects in Meru town, the deceased vanished, raising concerns among his family.
The Meru blogger went missing on December 2, 2023, and his body wasn’t discovered until December 16, 2023, discarded in the Mutonga River in Tharaka Nithi County.
According to a postmortem investigation done by government pathologist Johansen Oduor at the Marimanti Level 4 Hospital Mortuary in Tharaka Nithi, Meru County, it was discovered that Sniper was strangled to death.
Blogger Dennis Itumbi vowed to push relevant authorities to expedite investigations and prosecution of Sniper’s killers.
“Relax, good people. I do not know the killers of Sniper, but whoever it is, they will not get away (with it).
“DCI is doing a thorough and professional job. Justice will be served hot. Hii ujinga na ufala will be dealt with. We will not negotiate our right to expression,” he wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
