Head Teacher’s Murder Linked to 2021 Killing of American Based Nurse
The death of a teacher in Nyamira a week ago may be connected to the murder of an American nurse whose body was dumped in Konate near Nyamira.
On the evening of September 14, 2021, the body was discarded at the intersection of the Kisii-Chemosit and Nyamira-Kebirigo highways, approximately 6 kilometres from the town of Nyamira.
According to witnesses, a woman dropped the body before fleeing in an awaiting vehicle from which she had alighted.
Thomas Magwamu, a resident of the Gucha sub-county in Kisii County who had travelled from the United States, was eventually identified as the deceased.
The nurse had travelled from the United States for a month’s vacation and was working on a multimillion-shilling investment in Nyamarambe, Kisii at the time of his death.
Before the Bureau of Registration of Persons in Nairobi confirmed Magwamu’s fingerprints, identifying the body proved problematic for the detectives.
According to a DCI source in Nyamira, the police had done their homework in an attempt to solve the murder, but some loose ends had emerged, leaving the matter unresolved at the moment.
Ezekiel Gitangwa, a head teacher at Egesieri Primary School in Nyamira, was murdered ten days ago.
A detective connected with the inquiry stated there were signs that the person who dropped the body at Konate had moved to a spot close to the school.
On or around December 30, Gitangwa was allegedly murdered by a 33-year-old nurse and her 30-year-old lover, and his body was stashed in one of the rooms.
Before the authorities could recover Gitangwa’s disfigured body, they had to enter the nurse’s residence.
The nurse resides close to Egesieri Primary School, linked to the woman accused of dumping Magwamo’s body on the Konate road.
Concerning the apparent connection between the two murder cases, Nyamira County Criminal Investigations Officer Peter Kiboro stated that the files about the murder of the American nurse were being reopened for review to determine the possibility of a connection.
“There are similarities that are striking in both cases: the signature killing involving mutilation and corroding the bodies with acid. We are reading deeper into the two crimes,” Kiboro said.
Gerald Ondieki, a distant relative of the US-based nurse who was abandoned at Konate, told The Standard at the time that they believed a Nyamira nurse murdered Magwamu.
Ondieki stated that the entire village knew a nurse assassinated Magwamu in Nyamira county.
Detectives are seeking to establish the connection between the incidents in addition to pursuing the two key suspects in the murder of the Nyamira teacher.
Kiboro stated, “We want to ascertain if the perpetrators of the two murders are the same people because our circumstantial leads have that pointer. Our team is already analysing data with the first incident.”
The DCI is currently on the trail of the two primary suspects in the murder of Gitangwa, whose acid-soaked body was recovered.
The 47-year-old Gitangwa went missing on December 30 after leaving his Nyabite residence for a church event at Nyamira Central PAG.
Before disappearing, the teacher allegedly received a phone invitation to the nurse’s home.
The rotting body was discovered in her home on January 1, covered with a carpet.
Detectives have requested that the nurse and her partner report to any police station.
Head Teacher’s Murder Linked to 2021 Killing of American Based Nurse
