Shocking details of how Kitengela hairdresser was killed & dumped in pit latrine

Jane Mwende Mwanzia, 29, died from asphyxiation, caused by manual neck compression.

Slain Mlolongo hairdresser was strangled to death by piece of cloth
Image: COURTESY

Mlolongo hairdresser Jane Mwende Mwanzia who was found murdered after missing for two weeks was strangled to death according to a postmortem.

The autopsy at Montezuma Monalisa Mortuary in Machakos town on Thursday evening indicated that the 29-year-old died from asphyxiation, caused by manual neck compression.

A family spokesman said pathologists told them Mwende was strangled using a piece of cloth.

“The killers used a piece of cloth to compress her neck to death,” the spokesman John Mutuku said.

Pathologist Dr Michieka Michieka said there was a clear indication the woman died out of lack of oxygen due to strangulation.

The family wants the police to move with speed and get all those who were involved in the murder after it emerged she may have been killed due to a love triangle fiasco.

A local prominent land dealer has been mentioned in the probe.

Two suspects were Wednesday detained by a court in Mavoko for ten days to enable police to conduct their probe.

Mavoko Law Courts Senior Principal Magistrate Barbra Ojoo allowed the State to continue holding Evelyn Wanza Katumbu and Faith Nthemba Kyalo as investigations continue.

The body of the salonist was recovered from a pit latrine in Mlololongo, Machakos county on Tuesday.

She had been missing for two weeks, her family and police said.

The suspects were arraigned on miscellaneous charges at Mavoko Law Courts on Wednesday.

However, another suspect in the fiasco was released as he is likely to be used as a witness.

The detectives handling the matter said they are looking for more suspects. They will also need time to record statements and take the suspects for mental tests.

Mwende's body was retrieved from a pit latrine where it had been for two weeks.

The suspects who were arrested last week in connection to Mwende's disappearance had earlier misled the detectives to a Magongo forest in the Wote area of Makueni county.

They later changed the narrative, leading the police to Kiserian in Kajiado before revealing the actual scene where Mwende's body was discovered.

Mwende is said to have received a phone call on August 25, from a person posing as a client in need of her hairdressing services at their home.

She left, never to return, police said. She also failed to pick up her child from her Yatta home in Machakos after the August holidays.

Family, friends and colleagues of Mwende have been frantically searching for her since she disappeared.

They said they had been to police stations, hospitals and even to morgues without success.