Fred Cheluba Murunga, the suspect believed to have murdered his 63-year-old employer in Murang’a on September 22, 2022, was arrested yesterday in Ruiru after evading capture for over 20 months.
The harrowing incident began in the quiet village of Kerandi, Kigumo, Murang’a County. Cheluba, who had been employed as Mzee Paul Njuguna Kamau’s farmhand for one and a half months, allegedly turned violent on that fateful morning.
According to the report filed at Ngonda Police Station, Cheluba sent Kamau’s 12-year-old grandson to a nearby shop. During the child’s brief absence, Cheluba attacked Kamau with a machete.
Upon returning, the young boy found his grandfather locked in the kitchen, crying out in agonizing pain. With the rest of the family away, the boy, who had come to get breakfast for his grandfather, quickly raised the alarm.
Villagers responded swiftly and, along with local police, broke into the kitchen to find Mzee Kamau’s lifeless body soaked in blood beside the suspected murder weapon, a machete.
The community’s shock quickly turned to anger as neighbors searched for Cheluba, but both he and Kamau’s motorcycle and mobile phone were missing. Kigumo DCI officers launched a manhunt, uncovering that the stolen items had been sold in Eldoret.
Despite the passage of time, the family’s hope for justice waned, but detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) remained focused. The DCI HQS Crime Research and Intelligence Bureau (CRIB) joined the effort, utilizing crucial intelligence leads to track the suspect.
Yesterday, CRIB detectives successfully apprehended Cheluba at a security firm in Ruiru where he was seeking employment.
