Police are attempting to piece together the identity of the man believed to be the prime suspect behind the gruesome murder of a 20-year-old woman at an apartment in the Roysambu area, in Nairobi.
CCTV footage obtained by the police unmasked the face of the suspect accused of planning the murder. However, the suspect disguised his looks to derail the investigations.
Other than reviewing the footage, police may combine it with advanced facial mapping technology to identify the suspect. They may also use forensic technology to analyse his gait and match them with a potential suspect, alongside collecting DNA samples for analysis.
In the footage, the man, clad in a black trouser, a black jumper, a blue T-shirt, black goggles, and a white cape hurriedly made an entrance at a mini supermarket where he went to pick up the keys to access the room where the murder incident occurred.
The suspect entered the shop at around 4.30 pm on Saturday, January 13 while on a phone call. He then hurriedly handed over the phone to the shop attendant who briefly spoke with the caller before handing the phone back to the suspect.
According to the shop attendant, the suspect was in a conversation with the owner of the 'Airbnb', which is located adjacent to the mini-store, who directed him to pick up the keys.
After accessing the keys, the suspect refused to make payments via mobile money and instead made cash payments claiming that he encountered challenges.
A close view of the footage indicated that he was carrying a bag which detectives claimed was used to disguise the weapon used in the execution of the murder.
According to the shopkeeper, the suspect was to hand back the keys on Sunday morning, which he failed to do as he disappeared thereafter.
After receiving the keys, It was believed the man accessed the room alone but was later joined by the woman in the wee hours of the night. However, the two were not seen together.
Nonetheless, a neighbour who saw the woman enter the room at 4 am on a fateful day said that she never left the premises.
"I opened the door and looked at my left side. I saw a man trying to open the door. He was wearing spectacles and was carrying something I suspect was alcohol in an envelope. In my observation, he was a middle-sized man, not so tall and not so short," detailed a neighbour residing next to the crime scene.
Detectives who traced the suspect's mobile phone revealed that he travelled from Ruaka to Roysambu where he committed the murder. However, police wondered whether he drove to the premises or was dropped off by a taxi.
The woman's kin identified the body of the deceased at the City mortuary but they were denied access to the body as investigations are still underway.
Detectives were assigned to trace the woman's phone which the suspect ran away with. The man was also said to have taken the woman's head after dismembering her body into pieces.
