The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) on Wednesday issued a statement, clarifying facts about the murder case of Meru-based Blogger, Daniel Muthiani Bernard alias Sniper.
Responding to claims of inaction, the ODPP refuted the allegations that the office did not give directions to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) on how to proceed after a suspect was arrested in connection with the murder.
In its statement, ODPP stated that the suspect in the case known by their alias Supuu wa Mioro was arrested based on suspicion of the offence of abduction.
Further, the ODPP clarified that the DCI through the ODPP’s office requested for custodial orders to detain the suspect since the abducted blogger was still missing as the investigations were being carried out.
However, the ODPP notes that a Meru court released the suspect on a cash bail of Ksh 20,000 and set the date for the mention of the case as January 5, 2024.
“The Chief Magistrate's court in Maua, Meru County declined to grant custodial orders as sought by the DCI through the ODPP but instead granted the suspect a cash bail of Ksh 20,000.00 and ordered the suspect to report to the police station every 14 days. The court also set the application for mention on 5 January 2024”, The ODPP’s statement read
In its clarification, the ODPP has also emphasised that following the retrieval of Daniel’s body, the office instructed the DCI to undertake investigations and submit an inquiry file into the murder case which they have not received to date.
The ODPP has, however, pledged to offer appropriate directions into the case upon the receipt of the inquiry file.
“Following the recovery of the body of the abducted person, the ODPP directed the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) to undertake investigations for the offence of murder and submit the resultant inquiry file for perusal and further directions. The ODPP has not received the inquiry file into the offence of murder to date”, the statement read.
Digital Strategist Dennis Itumbi had on Tuesday, provided documents to prove his argument that ODPP had failed to offer directions to the DCI in Meru in regards to the investigations on the case.
Details of the case reveal that Daniel Muthiani went missing on December 2 after receiving a call from the main suspect.
Reports indicate that the suspect was planning to arrange a meet up with a senior politician regarding claims he had made about them on social media.
The blogger was later discovered dead and a post-mortem report by the chief government pathologist revealed that he was tortured before being strangled to death.
