DCI Shares Face Of Rita Waeni's Murder Suspect, Appeals For Help To Locate Him: "He Knows Nairobi"

• The investigations into the brutal murder of Rita Waeni are at an advanced stage, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) revealed on Wednesday
• Police identified the prime suspect, who is still at large; they called on Kenyans to help locate the man whose face image grabbed from CCTV was shared with the public
• Waeni's body was severed and stuffed inside garbage bags after the murder inside a short-term accommodation space she had spent time in with the killer

Kai Eli, a journalist at TUKO.co.ke, brings more than three years of experience covering politics and current affairs in Kenya.

Nairobi: The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) detectives are running after the suspect in the gruesome murder of Rita Waeni.

The suspect is still at large.

On Wednesday, April 24, the police announced they had made progress in their investigations, suggesting they were close to catching up with the suspect on the run.

DCI's appeal to Kenyans over Rita Waeni's suspected killer

Photos believed to be his obtained from CCTV were shared by police.

Members of the public were called on to help locate the man, who is said to be fluent in English and Kiswahili and well-versed in the geography of Nairobi and its environs.

The headache for the detectives is the man's whereabouts; he is said to have mastered the tact of evading the focused CCTV lenses.

"The suspect is believed to have visited several hotels in Nairobi West in October 2023 and the Green House Airbnb located in Roysambu along TRM Drive on Nov 7 and Nov 11, 2023. He is also believed to have criminal mind evidenced by his way of evading CCTV cameras. He is fluent in Kiswahili and English, and has knowledge of Nairobi and its environs," police said.

Anyone encountering the suspect was invited to report via the DCI toll-free hotline 0800 722 203 or to any police station.

Rita Waeni's brutal murder

The severed body of the 20-year-old finalist at JKUAT University was found in the garbage area of the apartment she had booked herself in with the suspect.

Waeni's killer had already taken off when the body was discovered.

Chief government pathologist Johansen Oduor explained that the autopsy findings indicated the deceased was strangled.

Further, her head base was bruised by a blunt object, according to Oduor, who added that some of the bones were fractured.

The head was detached from the body and thrown at a thicket in Kiambu.

She was laid to rest on February 5, 2024, in a private function.

Other developments on Rita Waeni's murder

• According to the DCI, Waeni and her suspected killer started communicating with each other via Instagram in October 2023.
• Their first meet-up would be on a weekend in January 2024, in a short-term rental hotel in Nairobi.
• Waeni's body would later be found stashed in garbage bags and left in the refuse section of the building.

Proofreading by Otukho Jackson, a multimedia journalist and copy editor at TUKO.co.ke