Y’all… They Blamed Thugs for Their Father’s Murder

An elderly Nairobi property owner was found brutally murdered, but one detail at the scene made detectives question the entire story.

Yoh, wait. What?

Imagine police officers arriving at a Nairobi home late at night after being told that armed thugs have broken in and murdered an elderly man. Neighbours are gathered outside, a woman is screaming, and everyone is talking about the same thing: robbers have attacked the house.

The officers enter expecting a typical robbery scene.

Then they look at the door.

It is locked.

They check the windows.

They are intact.

They look at the padlock.

Untouched.

Something is not right.

If the thugs broke into the house, how did they get inside?

That single question would change the direction of the investigation and expose a much more disturbing story about one Nairobi family.

The man at the centre of the case was Francis Waweru Mutua, an 81 year old family patriarch and property owner from Ngando, near Dagoretti Corner and Kawangware.

Mutua owned a large seven bedroom house where several members of his family lived. His wife, Lucy Njeri Waweru, lived there together with their adult daughters Alice, Christine and Agnes and their children.

It was a large family home, but according to evidence later presented in court, it was far from peaceful.

The family had been involved in constant disagreements, particularly over property. Mutua's daughters were adults with children of their own, yet they continued living in their father's compound. The arguments became a regular part of life in the house.

Then Mutua's wife became seriously ill.

The daughters later alleged that their father refused to take their mother to hospital or pay for her medical treatment. The accusations added even more tension to an already troubled household.

By the end of 2012, Mutua apparently wanted out of the situation.

He told his wife and daughters to leave the property because he...