Clipped Off Fingernails- Evil Tricks By Rita Waeni's Killer To Hide Evidence

Chief Government Pathologist Johansen Oduor has uncovered the bizarre tactics by the killer of 20-year-old university student, Rita Waeni, whose body was found dismembered at TRM Drive at Roysambu in Nairobi.

Addressing journalists on Friday, January 19 after conducting a post-mortem on Waeni's body, Oduor revealed that the killer, who is still at large, tried to extract her fingernails to avoid a case of leaving traces of his DNA in the victim's body, which would have aided detectives in hunting him down.

The pathologist underlined that such violent crimes consist of a struggle between the victim and perpetrator, leading to a likely exchange of biological material between them.

"A thing that we noticed is that the killer tried to clip off her fingernails for reasons which I may not be able to know and as a scientist when we see this we think that the person was trying to hide evidence so that we are unable to get his DNA from his victim," said the Chief Pathologist.

Chief Government Pathologist Johansen Oduor (centre) flanked by officials from the DCI and Government Chemist during a past address to the media after at Villa Franca Estate, Imara Daima in Nairobi. /PEOPLE DAILY

However, Oduor did ensure that he was able to collect samples from some of Waeni's fingernails that her killer did not damage.

"So we have taken samples for further analysis so that police can continue with investigations. We might get remnants of the perpetrator's DNA," he added.

Describing the crude details of the murder, Oduor described that the killer looked as though he was well aware of his mission, adding that on inspection of the skin, it looked as though it was cut by a sharp object but a look at the bone revealed that it was sawed off with what looked like a hacksaw.

While noting that the deceased's head remains missing, Dr Oduor said "there was also a desecration of the body whereby someone cut the femur clean off so that the legs were apart from the trunk. She also lost a lot of blood but this could have been after death." 

The pathologist also termed the case a rare one in his long-standing career, adding "This is the first time I have encountered such an incident. I have never come across such in my forensic life."

The pathologists picked samples from the kidney, stomach, vagina and blood for toxicology analysis at a government chemist for further tests to ascertain if there were substances introduced to the body following police suspicions that the woman was drugged before being murdered on Saturday, January 13 at the apartment.

A team from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) joined the probe to focus on the killer, whom detectives believe could be a Kenyan, contrary to reports that he was a Nigerian national.

Preliminary findings show he had bought the mobile phone he used in communication with the owner of the apartment to lure Waeni to the scene and used a fake line registered in a woman’s name.

Police are now focusing on the motive of the murder given the woman had just known his killer days earlier and the two had established contact before the murder occurred.

They are talking to the parents, fellow students at the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) and her friends as part of efforts to know why she was killed.

Witnesses in the murder probe say the killer spoke in Swahili when he interacted with them, adding that he looked young and light and seemed well-versed in the area. The witnesses include the owner of the short-stay rental apartment and two other men.


Two suspects linked to the murder were arrested alongside a foreigner allegedly hailing from Nigeria who was arrested at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) as he was on his way out of the country bound for Abuja.

The foreigner raised suspicion after he was found to be travelling with a Mozambican passport before boarding a plane. He was interrogated at the airport before being transferred to the Kasarani Police Station pending identification.