Phone clues in attack on wedding pair

ERIC WAINAINA | nation Mr Zachary Mwaura, the father of groom Alex, who was shot dead on the eve of his wedding during a prayer service at their home in Kugeria-Thindigua, Kiambu, on Sunday.
By ERIC WAINAINA rc.wainaina@gmail.com and DOMINIC WABALA dwabala@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted Sunday, September 12 2010 at 20:01
In Summary

Police seek couple’s communication records from mobile phone companies

Police in Kiambu are studying mobile phone data to find out the motive behind the attack on a couple on the eve of their wedding.

The groom was shot dead and the bride wounded in the assault in Ruthimiti-Thogoto village on Friday night.

Detectives have obtained data from mobile service providers to establish if the couple had received any threats prior to the shooting.

Twenty-seven-year-old Alex Mwaura, who was shot in the head, died instantly while his fiancée, Ms Maureen Nduta, a nurse with AAR was shot in the chest. She later lost two teeth in an accident as they rushed Alex to hospital.

The attack happened as Mr Mwaura dropped her at her father’s home at around 8.30 pm.

Kiambu CID boss Peter Ndubi on Sunday said they were checking the couple’s communication to establish the motive of the shooting since the attackers did not steal anything from them.

However, the police boss said they were yet to interview families of the couple because they were still in shock.

The DCIO visited Ms Nduta at the Nairobi Hospital on Sunday where she is admitted but only spoke to her briefly because, he said, she was too weak.

Police have established that the couple arrived at the would-be bride’s home shortly after 8:30 pm and were waiting for the gate to be opened when they were confronted by three gunmen.

One of the gunmen chased away the young man who had been opening the gate while the other two approached the car, shot Mwaura under the left eye with the bullet exiting at the back of the head.

The gunmen then turned on Ms Nduta and other occupants and assaulted them before shooting her in the breast because she was shielding her fiancee.

Apart from Mwaura and Nduta, the other passengers in the car were his sister Naomi, his friend identified as Denis and Nduta’s workmate who was to be the best maid.

The gunmen then ran 50 metres back to a rough road where they jumped into a waiting white car and sped off.

Nduta’s uncle, Mr Njenga Wambugu, said he heard three gunshots as he was walking down to his brother’s home.

“ I heard three gunshots and then screams. I saw a car at the gate with its headlights on. By the time I reached the home, the girls had carried the injured man to the house to administer first aid but I carried him back to the car and instructed them to rush him to hospital. I couldn’t break the news to them but I knew he was dead because the back of his head had been blown off,” Mr Wambugu said.

The couple had courted for three years, the same period Mwaura had stayed in Kenya after returning from UK where he was studying.