Author’s new questions on how Wanjiru died
Samuel Kamau Wanjiru with his wife Teresia Njeri during the happy times. PHOTO/ FILE
By JULIUS SIGEI jsigei@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted Sunday, July 29 2012 at 23:30
Posted Sunday, July 29 2012 at 23:30
If speculation were currency, Samuel Wanjiru would still be raking in millions of shillings from his grave.
Since his death on May 15, 2011, the question has been who wanted the young man who won Kenya its first Olympic marathon gold in Beijing 2008 dead?
To police, Wanjiru killed himself. His widow Triza blames it on a fatal fall from the balcony, while his mother, Hannah, insists police conspired with her daughter-in-law to kill her Sammy.
Now a new book warns we may never know the truth, partly due to errors of omission and commission by the police in the first six hours of the tragedy.
Dutch journalist Frits Conijn, who spent weeks in Kenya investigating the circumstances that led to Wanjiru’s death, says the investigation was in a shambles.
Witnesses gave contradicting statements, police did not question all the suspects, and the scene of crime was never cordoned off.
Chief government pathologist Moses Njue gave the cause of death as “blunt force trauma” to the back of the head. The same opinion was given by Dr Emily Rogena, a senior lecturer at the Department of Human Pathology, University of Nairobi, who was appointed by the athlete’s mother.
“The body demonstrates a dual pattern of injuries with features consistent with conscious landing on all fours (the hands and knees) and fatal injury at the back of the head,” she said.
Fresh twist to the saga
But a new biography of Wanjiru by Mr Conijn, adds a fresh twist to the saga.
Mr Conijn spoke to a pathologist who warns Wanjiru had other suspicious injuries other than the wound at the back of his head. In the book Running on Empty:
The life and Triumphs of Samuel Kamau Wanjiru, the pathologist says he found “suspect” wounds on Wanjiru’s face.
While Dr Frank van de Goot of the Centre for Forensic Pathology does not categorically point at clear proof of murder, he raises questions about a wound under his left chin.
“If the wound had been above his eye, it would be easy to associate it with the fall. When landing on the back of his head, his skullcap was probably displaced and thereby the top of his eye socket. That’s a fairly normal pattern in such events. However, the wound is on the underside, it could have arisen in a fight.”
Key witnesses are also said to have provided conflicting statements about the events of that fateful day.
“This is believed to have aroused great suspicion. In one interview, a witness purported to have discovered Wanjiru and Nduta in the living room watching television and in another one, she confessed to have found them in the bedroom,” says the book published by Moran Publishers.
In another occasion, Triza confessed to have learnt of the death the next morning, yet she was reportedly at the police station on the fateful night.
Role of the watchman
“The suspicion gets stronger because of the role the watchman played that evening. In hindsight, he said that he talked to Wanjiru that night before the athlete entered the compound, but the watchman did not see (Jane) Nduta in the car. And he also said that he did not witness Wanjiru fall but only saw him when he was bleeding on the tiles.”
The book says police did a shoddy job.
“Even though the watchman and Nduta seemed to have the answer to what really happened, they were never seriously interrogated. After a few hours in the police station, they were allowed to go home. Shortly after, Nduta travelled to her home village to get some rest. Nobody tried to stop her, even though she was playing a big role in the investigation,” he says.
Mr Conijn says the police did not protect the scene of crime. “Friends, family and other athletes were allowed to visit Wanjiru’s house the morning after his death.
This made it possible for the evidence to be destroyed.”
Then there’s the question of blood stains in the house, which Hannah claims to have seen. Who ordered the house be cleaned that night? The author also visits claims that Wanjiru could have been killed by police officers who allegedly wanted to share the Sh33 million they took from his house during a swoop on illicit guns.
“According to rumours in Nyahururu, the police did not want to solve this case, but instead “the cops just wanted the money the athlete had stored in his safe. The Sh33 million which they had taken from the safe in December 2010 seemed not to have satisfied their hunger.”
See Serialisation in DN2: Wanjiru’s business empire
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment