New details have emerged about a note found in the notebook of a USIU student who was later abducted and killed in Ruiru, Kiambu County — evidence that has now helped secure a conviction more than a decade after her death.
Sarah Akello Aruwa, a final-year International Relations student at United States International University Africa, had told a friend she was going to meet a man she'd met earlier at the university library. Before leaving, she wrote in her notebook that she was meeting a man named "Daniel Muriithi" and recorded his phone number.
Evidence presented in court showed that this name and contact were allegedly used to deceive Akello and lure her into a trap that led to her abduction and death.
The case, dating back to 2012, has now concluded with the conviction of her former fellow student, Dancun Livingstone Kimathi. According to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, Justice Kanyi Kimondo found Kimathi guilty of killing Akello in the Kiamako area of Githunguri, Kiambu County.
After Akello went missing, her mother, Hellen Atieno Aruwa, received a call from a man using her daughter's phone demanding Ksh100,000 for her release. Aruwa negotiated the amount down to Ksh70,000 before reporting the matter to Kasarani Police Station. Akello's boyfriend also reportedly called her number and was met with a similar ransom demand from an unidentified man.
Investigators later recovered Akello's bra, panties, and a blood-stained top from a house in Savannah belonging to Winnie Wairimu, Kimathi's girlfriend at the time. Wairimu had also faced charges in connection with the case but failed to appear in court after being released on bail, and the trial proceeded without her.
A postmortem examination found an injury to the back of Akello's head, marks around her neck, and a protruding tongue, concluding that she died from manual strangulation.
After hearing testimony from 17 prosecution witnesses, Justice Kimondo found that Kimathi and his accomplices had deceived Akello into a trap intended to abduct her and extract a ransom. He was convicted of murder under the Penal Code and is set to return to court for sentencing on October 26, 2026.
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Worth crediting Citizen TV as the original source. Since this case is now formally adjudicated, it's solid, well-documented reporting to post as-is.
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