The murder trial of Joseph Irungu alias Jowie and journalist Jacque Maribe resumed on Tuesday, January 25.
A national identity card that was at the center of investigations in the murder of businesswoman Monica Kimani was among the first mystery to be tackled when the trial resumed.
The witness, identified as Dominic Hosea, told the court that he lost his Identification Card at Royal Gardens Park estate in Lang’ata, where journalist Maribe and Jowie were staying at the time.
Hosea told Justice Grace Nzioka that his ID went missing under mysterious circumstances after he left it with a security guard at the Royal Gardens Park estate.
He told the court that on September 17, 2018, he had visited Royal Park Gardens with a colleague searching for a casual job and the guard manning the gate asked them to leave their IDs behind.
Hosea was a security guard with a private firm in Nairobi, at the time but he was on leave.
When they were leaving the estate, the security guard did not give him back his ID and he was informed that it was missing. The guard manning the gate asked him to check the following day.
“He told me he was not the one on duty in the morning and asked me to come the next day. The next day, September 18, we returned to Lang’ata and found the same guard,” he testified.
“I said that I did not get my ID. I informed him of my name and ID number. He said they could not trace it but they would look for it," the witness added.
The ID card was later found by detectives at Monica Kimani's home in Lemuria Gardens, Kilimani following her murder on September 19, 2018.
According to Hosea, when he resumed his job, detectives from the Kilimani police station came to his workplace and arrested him. He was later taken to the Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DCI) headquarters for questioning.
“I was taken to the office, asked my identity and details. I explained to them what happened and that my ID got lost at Royal Park Lang’ata. I told them the security guard had assured me they would find it,” Hosea told the court.
