Jacque Maribe held for 10 more days

Citizen TV news anchor Jacque Maribe will remain in custody for 10 more days as police continue to probe the killing of Monica Kimani at an apartment in Kilimani, Nairobi. Her fiancé Joseph Irungu, who is also in custody, is the main suspect in the case.

The prosecution had sought 14 days to continue holding the journalist, citing the the serious nature of the case and need to conduct forensic examination of samples taken from her house as well as a DNA test.

She is likely to be charged with being an accessory to the murder after the fact as well as possession of firearms. Police recovered a live bullet under her bed.

“The general nature of the offence is a serious charge which could be accessory to murder and possession of firearms,” the prosecutor Jacinta Nyamosi told the court.

However, her lawyer Katwa Kigen opposed the application and instead sought to have her remanded for three days.

In her ruling, Kiambu Principal Magistrate Justus Kituku  allowed police to hold her for 10 more days at Gigiri Police Station but warned that she should not be coerced to record a statement and that her security must be ensured.

This is after the two gave contradictory statements to the police regarding how Irungu sustained a bullet wound on his chest. Initially, they had said the shooting took place inside her house at Royal Park Estate in Lang’ata before saying it took place outside when Irungu went to check on three men they found at the gate after he returned to find out what was happening after dropping her.

Her housemaid is also said to have told detectives she had a bang inside her bedroom indicating Irungu may have tried to commit suicide after killing Ms Kimani, a former colleague at the Technical University of Kenya, whom he had sought to have a relationship with.

Police are also said to have found a wallet and hand bag believed to belong to her in Maribe’s house. They also collected ashes of clothes Irungu was wearing that day and which he burnt inside the compound as well as a gun he is suspected to have shot himself with, which was found at a neighbour’s house.

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Irungu is also suspected to have stolen money from her but it is not clear yet whether it has been found.

And though Irungu indicated her picked the journalist from a club in Kilimani, police say she was in fact partying in Westlands. Some of her colleagues whom she was with are likely to be questioned.