Former Citizen TV journalist Jacque Maribe received some reprieve in the Monica Kimani murder case after it emerged that her DNA did not match that found at the crime scene.

While appearing in Court on Wednesday, June 19, investigating officer Inspector Maxwell Otieno responded to a cross examination by Maribe’s lawyer Katwa Kigen.

Kigen questioned whether Maribe was linked to the murder weapon or the shorts claimed to have been found in her house.

Murder Weapon

Inspector Otieno: “The weapon that was used to facilitate that murder and the submission of the deceased is now found in the house of the second accused (Maribe).

Kigen: Did Jennings (pseudo name of the witness) see the gun in the hands of the second accused?

Inspector Otieno: No.

DNA Results

The inspector admitted that an analysis of DNA and fingerprints on the murder scene and the body did not place show any relationship between Maribe and Kimani.

In addition a blood examination on a pair of bloody shorts found in her house came out as a negative match to the ex-journalist but a positive for the first accused Joseph ‘Jowie’ Irungu.

Maribe’s Link

The investigating officer however insisted that the DNA results did not completely exonerate her from the murder, accusing  her of being an accessory to the crime – a connection Kigen refuted.

Kigen: The second accused needed to have been there to have participated in the killing

Otieno: She could have participated by the act of being a principal offender, not physically being there

“The second accused facilitated the first accused (Jowie) by availing her vehicle which took him to the house of the deceased,” he stated.

On July 18, the Inspector Otieno revealed that a Recce Squad officer drove Jowie to Kimani’s house at the time of the murder.

He told the court that the officer admitted that he waited for Jowie at a petrol station and when the first accused came back, he intimated that he had a confrontation with the person he went to see.

According to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecution (ODPP), the prosecution  closed its case in the Monica Kimani murder case where it charged Jowie and Maribe.

The court directed all parties to submit written submissions ready for highlighting on 30th September 2022.