Economy

How officers executed lawyer Willy Kimani, client and taxi driver

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Senior Sergeant Fredrick ole Leliman. PHOTO | PAUL WAWERU

A senior police officer, his two colleagues and an informer removed human rights lawyer Willy Kimani, his client and a taxi driver from a police cell and killed them in an open field at night, the High Court heard Thursday.

“Senior Sergeant Fredrick ole Leliman who was in charge of Syokimau AP Camp, his deputy Sergent Leonard Mwangi Maina, an informer Peter Ngugi Kamau and a suspect at large killed the three in an open field at Soweto near Mastermind Tobacco on the night of June 23,” deputy director of public prosecutions Nicholas Mutuku said when the murder trial begun before Justice Gladys Sitati.

The bodies of Mr Kimani, his client Josephat Mwendwa and taxi driver Joseph Muiruri were found in the Ol-Donyo Sabuk River.

The judge heard the three were removed from Sgt Lelimani’s vehicle and killed one by one and their bodies loaded into gunny bags and dumped at Ol Donyo Sabuk River.

Mr Mutuku termed Sgt Leliman the mastermind of the deaths as he sought to derail investigations into his alleged earlier shooting of Mr Mwenda.

Sgt Leliman was being investigated for the offence of unlawful shooting of Mr Mwenda whom he is said to have injured in April 2015.

He is said to have hatched a plot to eliminate Mwenda, a boda boda operator for fear the investigations would lead to his job loss.

Mr Mutuku said Sgt Leliman enlisted his colleagues Maina, Sylvia Wanjiku Wanjohi, Stephen Morogo and Kamau whom he bought a cell phone to monitor the movements of Mwenda and his colleagues in his execution plot.

On the fateful day Sgt Lelimani instructed Mr Kamau to proceed to Mavoko Law Courts in Athi River, Machakos County to monitor Mr Mwenda who was to appear at the Mavoko Law Courts for a traffic case.

He later drove to the court in his car, which he used to block the vehicle ferrying  Kimani, Mwenda and Muiruri at a railway cross-line then bundled them into his car and drove them to Syokimau AP Post.

Mr Mutuku said he will rely on data from Safaricom and police communication gadgets which places the accused at the centre of the killings.