Detectives on Thursday arrested the
prime suspect in the gruesome murder that occurred inside a ward at Kenyatta
National Hospital (KNH).
According to officers from the
Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) Homicide Unit, the arrest follows
the brutal killing of Edward Maingi Ndegwa, a patient admitted to Ward 7B,
Group C (Male) on July 11, 2025.
He was found dead in his bed on July
17.
The incident has once again brought
KNH under scrutiny, raising renewed concerns about the safety of patients
within the facility.
This marks the second such incident
in less than six months.
Initial reports indicate that the
ward nurse had checked on Ndegwa at 11:30 a.m. and taken his blood pressure.
At 12:30 p.m., a relative visited
him and found him stable. The visitor left the ward at around 1:30 p.m.
However, at approximately 2:00 p.m.,
a cleaner doing rounds noticed a pool of blood around the patient's neck.
Upon visiting the scene, detectives
observed blood-stained slipper prints leading from the victim’s bedside to a
nearby toilet and eventually to a side room, where the suspect was admitted.
Inside the room, investigators
recovered a pair of blue slippers and a blood-stained bedsheet.
On the ground directly below the
window of the deceased's ward on the 7th floor, officers also found a knife
wrapped in gloves.
All recovered items have been
forwarded to the National Forensic Laboratory for detailed analysis to aid in
the investigation.
Preliminary investigations revealed
that the suspect had been admitted to the hospital on December 1, 2024.
He is also the prime suspect in the
earlier murder of Gilbert Kinyua Muthoni, 40, who was killed in Ward 7C during
the night of February 6–7, 2025.
It remains unclear what the suspect was suffering from at the time of both incidents.
Following the latest killing, a case
file was compiled and submitted to the Office of the Director of Public
Prosecutions (ODPP).
However, the ODPP directed
investigating officers to conduct further inquiries to strengthen the
prosecution’s case.
Detectives suspect that the suspect may be a serial killer, although the motive behind the killings is yet to be
established.
In the July 17 incident, Ndegwa was
found dead in his bed with his throat slit. Witnesses said the victim had a
physical disability.
Kilimani Police Commander Patricia
Yegon and her DCI counterpart, Hussein Mahat, visited the scene and spent most
of the afternoon investigating the murder.
KNH Acting Chief Executive Officer
Dr. William Sigilai confirmed the death in a statement, expressing shock over
the incident.
“On the afternoon of July 17, 2025,
at around 2:00 p.m., immediately after visiting hours, a patient was discovered
in a medical ward in blood-soaked beddings. The patient was examined and
certified dead,” Dr. Sigilai stated.
“The matter has since been reported
to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations and other government security
agencies. Our thoughts and prayers are with the patient’s family during this
difficult time,” he added.
This is the second fatal incident to
occur at KNH this year. In February, Gilbert Kinyua Muthoni was found in his
hospital bed with his throat slit.
A postmortem conducted by
pathologists revealed the wound was approximately three centimeters deep and
was the cause of death.
Kinyua's body also had blisters on
his back, suggesting he had remained in the same position for an extended
period.
Homicide detectives handling the
February case said investigations were still ongoing.
They had interrogated a fellow
patient who had shared the ward with Kinyua and collected DNA samples.
The patient claimed to have no
recollection of the events of that night.
The hospital has since provided
detectives with all CCTV footage from Ward 7B.
However, management clarified that
while CCTV cameras are installed in corridors, they are not placed inside
patient rooms due to privacy regulations.
The latest case bears similarities
to another killing that took place at the hospital nine years ago.
In November 2015, 42-year-old Cosmas
Mutunga Kenyatta was found murdered in his bed in Ward 8C.
He had been admitted on November 8
and was later discovered with multiple stab wounds and one eye gouged out.
The only person with him in the room
at the time was an incapacitated, deaf cancer patient.
Three nurses were on duty the night
Mutunga was killed. A 12-year-old child in the ward, who could neither hear,
speak, nor write, was the only potential witness.
A postmortem showed Mutunga’s skull
had been crushed, his eyes gouged out, and one leg shattered. He had been
stabbed 42 times.
The brutal killing occurred just hours after
his family had visited him and shortly after they had donated blood for his
chemotherapy.
The disturbing pattern of patient
murders at the region’s largest referral hospital has raised urgent questions
about the hospital’s internal security protocols.
Investigations into all three killings, 2015, February 2025, and July 2025, are ongoing.
