Kilimani Gang Leader Linked To Murder Of Foreigner Arrested

An armed and dangerous gangster responsible for the cold-blooded murder of a Greek National on October 15 this year, was arrested on Saturday, December 10 by detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI).

In their report on Sunday, December 11, the 33-year-old thug Peter Waithaka, believed to be the head of a gang behind the daylight armed robberies that have been reported in Kilimani and its environs, was arrested at Makongeni in Nairobi’s Eastlands suburbs.

His arrest followed a 48-hour well-calculated operation conducted by the Kilimani-based investigators, who used bait to trap the serial killer who has previously served six years behind bars for a similar offence.

The suspect captured on CCTV aboard a motorbike. /TWITTER.DCI

"The thug who was released recently from prison took detectives to his house in Wangige, Kiambu county, where crucial exhibits related to the robbery incidents were recovered and documented. 

"In the October incident, the jailbird together with two accomplices on a numberless motorbike accosted Alex Marcopaulo, at the Menellik /Ngong road junction and violently took away a rucksack that he was carrying," the DCI stated in part.

One of them then whipped out a pistol and shot Marcopaulo once on the right side of the chest, before taking off on a motorbike. Efforts by doctors at the Nairobi Women’s hospital to save the victim’s life were fruitless as he later succumbed to the gunshot injury. 

In a separate incident on September 29, the armed thugs had accosted four Dutch tourists outside Silver Harbour apartment along Kindaruma road and violently robbed them of their mobile phones, cash and pieces of jewellery before escaping towards Ngong road on a motorbike, whose plate numbers were concealed. 

As they made their escape, the thugs fired two shots in the air to scare off members of the public who had responded to the distress call by the besieged tourists. 

"The Dutch tourists were waiting to board a tour van to Nairobi National Park when the thugs got stuck in the 8 am incident.

"Since then, detectives have been burning the midnight candle to unmask the identity of the miscreant gang and bring all of them to book," added the DCI.

Earlier, the Kilimani-based detectives had arrested one of Waithaka’s accomplices, Stephen Elavuna, 38, whose case is pending before the Chief Magistrate’s court in Kibera. 

An operation to arrest the remaining suspects is currently ongoing, as the detectives follow crucial leads on their whereabouts. The DCI thanked its counterparts at the DCI Kilimani command and all the other officers involved for the well-executed operation leading to the arrest of the dangerous jailbird.

A report released on Thursday, November 10 by security and risk management experts, SF Group had flagged Nairobi's affluent Kilimani estate as a hotspot for robberies across the capital city.

A screen grab of the CCTV video that captured two thugs (in hoodies) mugging a pedestrian along Lenana Road in the Kilimani area, Nairobi on June 25, 2020. /FILE