The Lower Eastern Times Opening The Third Eye
Detailed, intelligence-driven forensic investigations have connected the murder of mental health researcher Dr. Victoria Mutiso to what the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) describes as a longstanding family land dispute.
DCI Director Mohamed Amin revealed the findings on Friday while updating the public on the progress of investigations into the psychiatrist’s fatal shooting on July 29. According to Amin, investigators now believe the killing was motivated by a prolonged land dispute currently the subject of a civil case before the Machakos Law Courts.
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Amin explained that the civil suit had been filed by an individual currently under investigation in connection with the murder inquiry. He said Dr Mutiso had placed a caveat on the contested piece of land in Athi River subcounty — a move investigators believe may have set off the alleged plot to kill her, as it was seen as directly threatening the interests of certain parties with a stake in the property’s ownership and control.
According to preliminary findings, key persons of interest are believed to have played a central role in conceiving, indirectly enabling, and financing the operation that ultimately led to Dr Mutiso’s shooting, Amin said.
The DCI further disclosed that the fatal shots were allegedly fired by a police officer using a police-issued Jericho pistol. Amin said the officer suspected of pulling the trigger has since been arrested, while a second officer, believed to have driven the getaway vehicle, remains at large. Both officers were reportedly attached to the same subcounty at the time of the shooting.
Additionally, a boda boda rider allegedly used to transport the suspected shooter has been arrested, with his motorcycle impounded as part of the ongoing investigation.
On the morning of July 29, Dr Mutiso was traveling to work in an online-hailed taxi shortly after 9 am when the vehicle came upon a black Toyota Prado that had partially blocked the road in the Kilimani area. The taxi driver told investigators he slowed down before witnessing a person seated at the Prado’s left rear window open fire on the vehicle.
Dr Mutiso was struck by three bullets. The driver immediately fled the scene and rushed her to Kenyatta National Hospital, where she was pronounced dead shortly after arrival.
Investigations into the murder remain ongoing.
