Exhumation
A Nanyuki court has ordered the exhumation of the body of an 81-year man suspected to have been killed by his 60-year-old son and buried in a shallow grave on his farm in Njoguini village, Laikipia Central Sub County.
In a miscellaneous application filed by the investigating officer Misheck Biwott, the police seek to have the body of Joseph Ndegwa Gitonga exhumed and a postmortem carried out to ascertain the cause of death and also obtain DNA samples from the deceased for matching with those of the suspect Anthony Gitonga Ndegwa, who is in police custody.
In her ruling yesterday, Nanyuki Resident Magistrate Immaculate Deche granted the exhumation orders sought by police and further directed that the local Public Health Officer supervise the exercise in the presence of the Chief Government Pathologist Dr Johansen Oduor who will carry out the postmortem.
The court further granted the police request to hold the suspect at Ngobit police station for 21 days pending conclusion of investigations into the alleged murder and further directed that a mental assessment of the suspect, be carried out to ascertain whether he is fit to stand trial.
The court was told of how the deceased went missing on diverse dates in June this year and a search mounted by local nyumba kumi elders led them to his son who is said to have been the last person seen with the father before his disappearance.
The suspect was arrested on the 8th of this month where he is alleged to have confessed to have killed his father and buried him in a shallow grave at a section of the deceased’s farm. The matter will be mentioned on 31st of July at the Ngobit mobile court.