Detectives investigating the murder of clinical psychologist Dr Victoria Mutiso have established that the police officers and other suspects involved in the killing were promised a total of Sh1.5 million to carry out the assassination, as the manhunt for two fugitive officers intensifies.
The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) said part of the money had already been paid before the killing took place. Investigators believe the payment was to be split three ways among the officers involved, with the murder described as a carefully coordinated contract killing tied to a long-running land dispute.
The manhunt for the two officers still at large intensified over the weekend, with senior security officers from the Central Region, led by David Loronyokwe, together with officers from Kikuyu Police Station, visiting several police posts in pursuit of leads.
The two remaining suspects have been named as Inspector Kenneth Kipkemboi Sang of Nderi Police Post and Bett Kiplangat Collins of Thogoto Police Station.
A third officer, Police Constable Elijah Kibelion Kimoi of Karinde Police Post, has already been arrested and is accused of pulling the trigger. Court records show this is not his first time he has faced a murder charge. Kimoi was previously charged alongside five other officers over the fatal shooting of a driver in Ruaka, with his service number, 91232, matching the one now cited by the DCI in connection with Dr Mutiso’s killing.
DCI Director Mohamed Amin said forensic experts had positively matched the murder weapon, a police-issue Mini Jericho pistol recovered from Nderi Police Post, to the fatal shooting.
“This firearm has been positively identified as the murder weapon used in the fatal shooting of Dr Victoria Nthunya Mutiso,” the DCI said, after spent cartridges recovered at the scene and a bullet retrieved from her body were matched to test-fired specimens from the pistol, serial number KP47302127.
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Investigators have also detained Rose Mulwa’s daughter as part of the widening probe, with her fate to be determined at a subsequent court appearance. Detectives say a second vehicle linked to the case has since been traced to Kisii, as the search for suspects continues.
The DCI is also examining whether the killing is connected to the September 9, 2025 murder of lawyer Mathews Kyalo Mbobu, whose shooting investigators believe may share suspects with the Mutiso case. Both killings are linked to a long-running dispute over a 20-acre parcel of land in Mlolongo, Athi River Sub-County, which remains the subject of a separate civil suit.
The case has also taken a political turn. Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua accused the DCI of trying to conceal police involvement in the murder, saying he had information on three officers linked to the case and threatening to release their identities if he believed investigators were covering up the facts.
Amin rejected the claims as reckless and urged Gachagua to submit any evidence directly to detectives rather than make public statements, warning that commentary on an active investigation risked interfering with the work of detectives. The DCI further alleged that Gachagua had been in communication with one of the key suspects in the case, a claim Gachagua has not publicly addressed.
The DCI says the investigation remains active, with all suspects, regardless of rank or position, expected to face the law.
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