John Muchiri Muthoni died from mob justice, not abduction: DCI

The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) says John Muchiri Muthoni, the 27-year-old man whose naked body was found dumped by the road at the Milimani Kawaida area of Banana Hill, Kiambu County over the weekend, was a victim of mob justice.

John was last seen on Friday, January 3, at 3 p.m., before going missing under unclear circumstances.

His girlfriend claimed she received a phone call early Saturday morning directing her to the location of his body where upon arrival, she found John’s body stripped naked with injury marks.

While the man’s disappearance and subsequent death have been treated by a section of the public similarly to the recent abduction of youthful government critics, the DCI on Monday said John had before his death scaled the perimeter wall of a nearby rental property “along with several accomplices” with the intent to steal.

The investigative agency said residents raised the alarm, prompting the alleged suspects to flee by jumping off the roof of the building they had reportedly climbed onto.

“The deceased was apprehended by the crowd and subjected to mob justice approximately 20 meters from the rental property. Further investigation confirmed that the residents of this property had previously been victims of multiple break-ins and burglaries,” the DCI said, without giving details about when exactly the alleged incident occurred.

“Initially, this case was classified as an abduction. However, subsequent investigations have clarified the circumstances.”

Previously, it was reported that a post-mortem on John’s body – which is at the Kihara Sub-County Hospital mortuary – was scheduled for Monday.

In the Monday 2 p.m. statement, the DCI said the body still awaited an autopsy.

Citizen TV on Sunday could not substantiate reports of a mob justice incident in the area. The locals a journalist spoke to said they did not witness any such incident, and there was no police occurrence book (OB) report of a robbery incident.

Additionally, Citizen TV could not verify whether John tampered with a Wi-Fi network receiver as the area lacked wireless network connectivity.

On Monday, the families of five men among those abducted in December over what has been perceived as social media posts criticising President William Ruto and his government confirmed that their kin had been released.

They include cartoonist Gideon Kibet alias Kibet Bull, Billy Mwangi, Peter Muteti, Bernard Kavuli and Rony Kiplangat.

However, Steve Mbisi, who was also reported missing, had yet to be found.

The DCI’s statement on John’s death followed the National Police Service (NPS)’s Sunday report on Ibrahim Mwiti.

Mwiti, 24, was reported missing on November 15 before his body was found at Thika Level 5 Hospital mortuary on January 2.

NPS said the man was also not a victim of abduction, that he instead died from a hit-and-run accident along the Thika Superhighway.

The police service further brushed off reports that Mwiti was an activist.

With additional reporting by Francis Odee.