Undercover detectives on Friday, May 19 arrested a 40-year-old man suspected of killing a US-based couple in Nyamira County in a well-orchestrated operation.
According to the Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DCI), the suspect - believed to have murdered Edward and Grace Morema on March 21, 2023, was approached by detectives that were posing as hawkers at the border of Kenya and Tanzania in Migori County.
Police indicated that the suspect was planning on fleeing the country after realising that detectives were closing in on him
Unknown to him, the detectives had used research technology domiciled at the forensic lab along Kiambu Road to place him at the crime scene - the house of the deceased.
"At 3 pm, the sleuths posing as hawkers along the border struck in one swift move and whisked the armed suspect away without firing a single shot, leaving a cloud of dust whirl in their wake.
"Before the other traders selling merchandise at the border could decipher what had just transpired, the hatchback carrying the suspect was negotiating the first bend towards Migori, en route to the capital," the DCI stated
It was revealed that the police for four days had trailed the movements of the suspect - who was first discovered to be living in a hideout in Ruai.
During the arrest, police recovered a gun and ammunition which was taken to the headquarters for forensic analysis.
Also recovered were assorted spanners, nuts, screwdrivers and pliers that were allegedly used to break into vehicles. Police revealed that the suspect had connections to a number of crimes in Nairobi and Nyanza region.
The Murder of the Nyamira Couple
Edward and Grace Morema were murdered on the night of March 21, 2023, while on vacation at their Nyamira home.
The bodies of the US-based couple were discovered in their house by their house girl and the farmboy as they were doing the chores on March 22.
It was reported that the workers became suspicious after the couple - who often woke up early - had not been seen by 10 am.
"As they were conducting a search that the lifeless body of the woman was discovered sprawled on a bed in a pool of blood in one of the bedrooms, while the man’s body was found in the garage.
"The bodies bore deep cuts on their heads while their legs and hands were tied together using electric cables," DCI stated.
More puzzling to detectives was the fact that the house help did not hear any screams during the incident. She was sleeping in one of the rooms in the mansion based in Keroka.
It was also reported that the couple hosted a mysterious visitor at the home on the night of their murder. According to the house help, she left the couple with the visitor in the living room when she was retiring to bed on the night of March 21.
Three other suspects were arrested by police over the March murders.
