Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) has released an update on the death of a patient at the facility, revealing little-known details about the suspect believed to be behind the shocking murder.
In a statement issued on Friday, July 18, KNH disclosed that the suspect had been a patient at the hospital and was still staying there despite having been officially discharged.
According to KNH, the suspect was a long-term patient who had initially been admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) in November 2022 and was later transferred to the general ward.
However, being homeless with no known relatives or confirmed identity, he remained at the hospital even after discharge. The hospital made several attempts to identify him through fingerprint analysis and also via its social media pages.
According to KNH, in June 2024, the hospital was able to secure a home where the suspect was discharged to. However, he fell ill in December 2024 and was readmitted to KNH and discharged in January 2025.
“Upon discharge, the home that previously hosted him declined to take him back for unknown reasons. In the interim, the suspect remained in KNH as we tried to look for alternative accommodation,” KNH stated.
However, efforts to accommodate the suspect in premises outside the hospital were compounded after the murder of 40-year-old Gilbert Kinyua, who was killed in February 2025.
This is after the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) had flagged him as a person of interest in Kinyua’s killing and advised the medical facility to hold him pending the conclusion of their investigations.
It is during this period that Edward Maingi Ndegwa, a male patient who had been admitted to Ward 7B on July 11, 2025, was murdered, with the suspect believed to be at the heart of it.
“We emphasise that the suspect had been discharged, and the hospital did not intend or desire to host him indefinitely. However, in the absence of alternative options and pending direction from investigative agencies, we had no choice but to continue with his stay in the hospital,” KNH stated.
The suspect was arrested on the evening of Thursday, July 17, by DCI detectives as the prime suspect in Ndegwa’s murder.
Initial reports indicate that a nurse checked on the patient on Thursday, July 17, at around 11:30 a.m. and took his blood pressure. At 12:30 p.m., a relative visited and found him stable before leaving the ward at 1:30 p.m.
However, at around 2:00 p.m. the same day, a hospital cleaner making rounds in the corridor noticed blood oozing from the patient’s neck.
Detectives were quickly alerted and, upon arrival at the scene, traced bloody slipper prints from the victim’s bedside to a nearby toilet and eventually to a side room, where the suspect had been admitted.
In the room, investigators recovered a pair of blue slippers and a blood-stained bedsheet. During the investigation, they also discovered a knife wrapped in gloves.
