Lawrence Warunge pleads not guilty to five counts of murder in Kiambu
Lawrence Warunge, the main suspect in the murder of his four family members and a farm hand, has been charged with five counts of murder at the Kiambu law court.
Appearing in a virtual court session before Lady justice Mary Kasango, Warunge was charged with killing his father Nicholas Warunge, mother Anne Warunge, brother Christian Njenga, nephew Maxwell Njenga and worker James Kinyanjui on the night of January 5-6, 2021.
The 22-year-old university student denied the charges before the Kiambu court.
Justice Kasango ordered that the accused person be remanded at Nairobi Industrial Area Prison pending the pre-trial hearing slated for May 11.
His arraignment follows a psychiatric report released by Mathari hospital confirming that he was mentally fit to stand trial.
In January, the court ruled that Warunge was unfit to stand trial after a psychiatric report was presented at the Kiambu Law Court.
The prosecution told the court then that he was on mental illness medication.
When he was arrested, Warunge told homicide detectives that he was inspired by the tv series ‘Killing Eve’ to murder his father, mother, 12-year-old brother, cousin and a farm hand at their Kiambu family home.
According to the police report, he first killed farm hand James Kinyanjui, who lived just a few meters from the main house, before descending on his mother Anne Wanjiku, who was in the kitchen and his brother, who had responded to her distress call.
He then attacked his father Nicholas Warunge, who had fled from the suspect by jumping from the balcony then finished with his cousin, who was hiding under the bed.
According to chief government pathologist Johansen Oduor, who examined the five bodies, all the victims died due to multiple injuries caused by blunt objects.
Warunge fled the scene of crime and was later arrested at Wangige by DCI officers together with his girlfriend three days later.
His girlfriend Sarah Muthoni, who was also a suspect, was released in January under Section 87 (a), and turned into a state witness in the case.