Top 10 Most Horrific Murders in 2018

Justice delayed is justice denied; Kenyan families that have had the pain of losing their loved ones know this famous quote too well.

As 2018 clocks to an end, the section of families are yet to come into terms with how or why their loved ones had to be butchered in the most heinous ways.

Most painfully, these families are yet to get justice given the bureaucracy of our Justice system that delays cases over decades to the point that justice no longer tastes sweet when delivered leaving the victims’ families bitter.

Below are ten cases of the most gruesome murders in 2018 that saw young promising lives shattered in the most heinous way leaving their families devastated as they continue to walk the corridors of justice-seeking answers and closure.

1. Sharon Otieno

The gruesome murder of 26-year-old Rongo University student Sharon Otieno and her 7-month old unborn child left the Country terrified given the cruelty it portrayed.

Sharon’s body was found at the Kodera forest on 4^th September after she was reportedly kidnapped on 3^rd September together with Nation Journalist Barack Oduor who jumped out of the speeding carjacker’s vehicle.

Sharon who was a mother of three had multiple stab wounds and, most spine-chilling, one of the stabs went straight into her womb revealing a lot of anger and bitterness from the killer. Exactly how does anybody live with themselves after such an act?

Sharon was in an intimate relationship with Migori Governor Okoth Obado who was the father of Sharon’s 7-month-old unborn child.

Governor Okoth Obado was arrested as the main suspect behind Sharon’s death together with his personal assistant, Michael Oyamo and Migori County clerk Caspal Obiero and the Governor’s bodyguard Elvis Omondi.

2. Monica Nyawira Kimani

28-year old Monica Nyawira Kimani was found dead in her apartment in Kilimani at a time that could be said was the climax of her life financially.

Living in an uptown resident that most only see on social media, Monica had bought her mother a Subaru Impreza and was working on buying the father a Toyota V8. Monica was tied up, stuffed in a bathtub with her throat slit on 19^th September 2018.

Citizen TV reporter Jacque Maribe and her fiancée Joseph Kuria Irungu aka Jowie were arrested following the murder with Jowie being the main murder suspect. Jacque was later released on bail with a number of conditions that barred her from getting involved in News production.

3. Janet Wangui

46-year-old Janet Wangui Waiyaki was shot dead on 20^th May 2018 at City Park but Bernard Chege whom Janet was accused of having an affair with.

According to a police statement, two officers knocked on the car’s tinted windows but there was no response. The car was then driven away which prompted the two officers to spray the car with 15 bullets, killing Janet and severely injuring Bernard.

Janet was said to have been in a compromising situation with the 26-year-old Bernard Chege, who was also her nephew, in the Toyota Fielder at the time of the shooting.

The lady’s husband George Kirubi, a business tycoon, was accused of sending police officers to kill the wife over her relationship with Bernard. Justice is yet to be felt on the case.

4. Lucy Njambi

At only 24-years of age, Lucy who was a mother of one four-year-old boy met her death in the most horrific way.

Lucy was driven away from her apartment in Thindigua at night on 24^th January 2018 by her husband Former Riruta Ward Representative Samwel Ndung’u in the company of three men.

Lucy was later found dead and naked in an isolated location at Kamiti Corner in Ruiru. It was later revealed that her killers had forced her to drink acid before drenching her into the same liquid causing her 70 percent burns.

The beautiful 24-year-old Lucy was reported to have been engaged in recurring domestic quarrels with her MCA husband which had led her to vacate her matrimonial home together with her son.

Lucy survived to narrate what had happened to her when good Samaritans took her to Kiambu Hospital from where she was referred to Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH). Lucy succumbed to the acid burns two days into her admission at KNH and left behind a four-year-old son.

Ndung’u, Lucy’s husband, was taken to court on the day of her demise and was remanded to allow investigations. Much has not been heard since then as her mother continues to seek justice.

5. Elizabeth Achieng

26- year-old Elizabeth Achieng’ lost her life and that of her son in the scariest way, allegedly in the hands of her house help, Jackline Auma from Uganda.

Elizabeth’s body and that of her son were found in their house in Shauri Yako Estate in Muhoroni by neighbors in June. Her body had several knife wounds on the chest and burns on the left side.

Achieng’ worked as a community health officer at Kadenge Health Centre in Muhoroni and left behind a husband, Evans Otieno who continues to seek justice for his wife and child.

6. Maribel Kapolon

9-year-old Maribel Kapolon, the daughter of Caroline Kemei, the senior resident magistrate at Githongo law courts in Meru, was kidnapped after being dropped from school by person police say was known to her.

Maribel’s body was found on 16^th September 2018 in Gitoro forest in Upper Imenti, Meru County. Her body was decomposing, after 11 days of her search, and had signs of having been mutilated.

Benson Kimathi Marangu, the suspect was a former Prisons officer who worked in Meru and was reported to have been in a relationship with Carol Kimei, Maribel’s mother.

7. Alvina Maracha, 17

Alvina, a Form 4 candidate at Sengera SDA Secondary School in Kisii, was on 17^th September 2018, lured out of her house while revising for her Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE).

Alvina’s body was later found inside a fish pond on 18^th September. Alvina’s mother suspected that she was murdered by a former boyfriend, a local bodaboda operator but justice seems to be too far for her to reach.

8. Stella Ruto

In Ngubereti village in Mogotio sub-county, 50-year old Barnabas Kosgei no longer has a wife.

Kosgei allegedly killed his 50-year-old wife, Stella Ruto, while she was five months pregnant over what neighbors attributed to a domestic fight.

Stella Ruto, according to neighbors, had previously run away from her abusive husband for two weeks. Her body was discovered in a pool of blood.

Stella left five children behind and one can only wonder, will these children ever get justice for their mother’s death?

9. Ann Gathoni

On 6^th May 2018, Ann Gathoni, 35, and her children aged between six and 14 were strangled to death in Marurui village, Roysambu, Nairobi.

The suspect was allegedly Ann’s lover only identified as Maina who had apparently sired her two-year-old son.

The couple was reported as to have had frequent fights through the police suspected the act could have been carried by several killers.

Ann’s eldest daughter escaped being murdered as she had returned to college on Sunday afternoon as the suspect was also said to have spared his son who was the last born.

Maina is said to have abandoned his family several years ago to live with Gathoni.

One of the slain children, a 14-year-old girl, was to sit her KCPE exam this year.

10. Anne Wanjohi

23-year-old Anne Wanjohi was killed by police constable Simon Njoroge Njau in Nairobi’s city center.

Anne was shot dead after refusing to marry the constable who seemed obsessed with the idea of making her his wife.

Ann was shot five times by the constable who had only known her for three months. She was however killed in September 2017 unlike other victims on this list.