How Missing Head and Phone Led Police to Arrest Man in Murder of Pastor’s Daughter Joy Kanini

Just two days before that, Reverend Kanyua had met Joy in Nyeri town. She had come to town with her mother. Her parents had asked her to go home with them to Lamuria in Kieni, but she declined and promised to visit soon. That visit never happened.

At the police station, the two men sat together for hours. While there, they overheard police talking about an unidentified body that had been found that morning in Ngangarithi Estate. The body was a torso inside a sack, dumped near a hostel fence. Muriithi reportedly told the Reverend that he had seen the body and it was not Joy. Unknown to the family, the torso was found in the same compound where Muriithi lived.

While at the station, Reverend Kanyua noticed something else. Muriithi was carrying Joy’s mobile phone, but the SIM card was missing. When asked, Muriithi said Joy had removed the SIM herself before leaving.

Later, when police asked for Joy’s identification, Muriithi said her driving licence was at his house and he would go get it. He stepped outside to make a call and never came back. He disappeared.

After he fled, police and the family went to check the unidentified body at Nyeri County Referral Hospital morgue.

“The body had no head, arms or legs, but there was a birthmark on the chest that looked exactly like my daughter’s,” Reverend Kanyua said. DNA tests later confirmed it was Joy.

That same evening, police found more of her body parts, her lower limbs wrapped in black polythene bags, not far from where the torso was found.

On Tuesday, detectives searched Muriithi’s one-bedroom room in the hostel. They found black polythene bags, a blood-stained mattress and blood-stained clothes.

Residents had complained about a bad smell from a pit latrine about 20 metres from the house. When police opened the latrine, they found Joy’s feet and arms, also wrapped in black bags. A bag with medication was also found inside.

By Wednesday evening, police were still searching for Joy’s missing head. Later reports indicate detectives recovered the head from the 20-foot pit latrine after the suspect led them to the site.

A post-mortem exam showed Joy died from excessive bleeding. The government pathologist said a saw was used to cut the body, but could not give the full cause of death because some body parts were still missing at that time. Police believe she may have been unconscious when it happened.

Joy and Muriithi met at Nyeri National Polytechnic and had been in a long-term relationship. Neighbours said they looked like a loving couple. Joy lived in Classic Estate but often stayed at Muriithi’s place. She sold shoes for a living while Muriithi was said to be unemployed. The last time neighbours saw Joy was on Monday, June 8, washing clothes outside his house.

The suspect was later arrested while reportedly trying to flee to Uganda, and investigations are still ongoing.