The mystery of the ID used to enter Monica Kimani's apartment was explained in court

Piece by: ANNETTE WAMBULWA
Crime

• Three people who positively identified Jowie for using the ID at at Lamuria Gardens where Monica Kimani was murdered.

The late Monica Kimani
The late Monica Kimani

A security guard whose national ID was found at Lamuria Gardens where Monica Kimani was murdered has told the court it got lost at Royal Park two days before the murder.

Dominic Haruni told the court on Tuesday he had gone to do some construction works at Royal Park Estate on September 17 when he lost his ID.

Former TV journalist Jacque Maribe who was living with Jowie Irungu at Royal Park Estate has been charged alongside him with Monica's murder on September 19, 2018.

Haruni told Justice Grace Nzioka he is a security guard at Lavington Security. In September 2018, after applying for leave from work, he needed money to travel so he got construction work at Royal Park.

The court further heard that on September 17 Haruni went to Royal Park with a friend and as they entered the estate everyone left their IDs at the main gate, a common practice.

However, when he was done with his day's work, his ID could not be found while the others received theirs. The security told him to leave and if they found his ID they would let him know.

He said he left his phone number and they promised to get back to him as soon as it was found.

Haruni said he had a sick child so he went to the hospital to be with his child and then travelled upcountry.

Weeks later, when he resumed duties as a security guard at the University of Nairobi, DCI officers went looking for him to question him about why his ID was found at the scene of the crime.

He told court that he was escorted to DCI headquarters and explained to the officers his ID got lost at Royal Park Estate in Langata and he was not in Nairobi on the day the murder took place.

On cross-examination, he said he did not know Maribe, Jowie or Monica and had never met Maribe or Jowie prior to this case.

A police officer who conducted the identification parade was also taken to task by the defence on how he conducted the identification parade for Jowie.

Officer Kennedy Araman, who was the deputy OCS Kilimani police station in 2018, said the identification was objective and not subjective.

The defence had claimed the parade was subjective because Jowie was already in the news.

However, Araman said at the time he did the ID parade the news had not broken.

He added that the three people who positively identified Jowie were held in separate rooms prior to the ID parade.

The hearing continues  Wednesday and three more witnesses are expected to testify as the prosecution prepares to close its case.

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