Murder suspect Lawrence Warunge declared unfit to stand trial, girlfriend freed

University student Lawrence Warunge, who is accused of killing his family in Kiambu, has been declared unfit to stand trial.

The judge made the ruling on Tuesday following a mental assessment test that was conducted on the suspect.

The court further freed Lawrence Warunge’s girlfriend Sarah Muthomi.

This comes after Warunge – the main suspect in the murder of Nicholas Warunge, his wife, son, nephew and a mason – failed to appear in court as expected Monday, with investigators saying he had been taken for mental assessment.

His girlfriend Sarah was however presented before Kiambu Chief Magistrate Patricia Gichuhi who heard that the prosecution intends to use her as a state witness in the murder case.

The two were again arraigned on Tuesday after the lapse of the 14 days granted by the court to detectives to detain them to facilitate investigations.

Warunge and Muthomi had been detained at the Gigiri and Muthaiga Police stations respectively.

The 22-year-old Warunge was accused of killing his five family members in cold-blood, claiming they had all conspired to speak ill against him.

In a damning police report, Warunge told detectives how he researched online on the best way to commit the crime.

He confessed how he inadvertently picked lessons from a psychopathic killer in British show “Killing Eve”.

The police report detailed how he first killed James Kinyanjui: a handyman who lived a few meters from the main house.

He then attacked his mother Anne Wanjiku who was in the kitchen followed by his 12-year-old brother who had responded to his mother’s distress call.

The university student then attacked his father Nicholas Warunge who had jumped from the balcony, attempting to flee the visceral attack.

Last to be killed was his cousin, a 13-year-old boy who was hiding under the bed.

He told police officers how he stabbed the minor with a 9-inch knife despite the helpless child kneeling and pleading for mercy.

To ensure that none of his victims would survive, Warunge hit them on the head with a metal bar, stabbed them multiple times on the chest before slitting their throats.