05 August 2024

•The inquest hearing resumes on October 1.

•It is alleged that he fell to his death in a suicide mission.

Interior designer Jeff Mwathi was murdered and narratives of him having been consumed by suicidal thoughts to the extent of taking away his life are misleading, his father Peter Ngugi told an inquest.

Jeff, whose real name is Geoffrey Mwathi Ngugi died on February 22, 2023, at Redwood apartment in Roysambu Nairobi.

It is alleged that he fell to his death in a suicide mission. That was after a night of drinking with DJ Fatxo, real name Lawrence Njuguna Wagura.

The two had met on February 21 for an interior design job at DJ Fatxo's business along Eastern Bypass.

They later indulged in food and drinks at various bars and clubs before retiring for rest at Fatxo's house at about 3 am on February 22.

The house was located on the 10th floor of the Redwood apartment within Roysambu.

Jeff's father while testifying before Milimani magistrate Rose Ndomi during the inquest hearing on Wednesday said his son was with DJ Fatxo in a bar. They were with three women.

Ngugi said DJ Fatxo then called his driver Geoffrey Wanyeki to come over to the bar to drive him home claiming he was too drunk to be on the steering wheel.

"Wanyeki did not come alone. He came with Njuguna's (DJ Fatxo) cousin Christopher Wang'ombe. They then continued drinking despite having said he was too drunk," Ngugi testified.

By the time they were leaving the bar for home, Wanyeki did not drive the car.

Instead, it was DJ Fatxo who drove his car home with Jeff and the three women.

Wanyeki and Wang'ombe used another means to get to the house.

Jeff's father Ngugi questioned why they were going to DJ Fatxo's house yet the work of driving for which Wanyeki was called was no longer necessary.

In the house, DJ Fatxo asked Jeff to excuse himself and retire to his bed because he appeared extremely sleepy.

"They (DJ Fatxo, Wanyeki and Wang'ombe) followed him to the bedroom. There was a slight commotion there and it is at that time that Jeff was killed," Ngugi told the inquest.

He testified that when the DJ returned from the bedroom, he quickly asked the women to leave and offered to drive them home.

"For him (DJ Fatxo), that move was very key so that there would be no witnesses," Ngugi said.

After DJ Fatxo returned, he did not go to the house.

He stayed in the car in the parking area. At one point, Wanyeki and Wang'ombe were seen leaving the house with Wanyeki on the phone.

They talked for a few minutes while they were out of the building but within the compound before getting back to the house.

Ngugi told the inquest that it was about 5.40 am when the duo were seen in the lift going up to the house.

"Then at about 5.47 am, Jeff's body is captured in CCTV footage dropping from the house. It is these two people who forced Jeff's body through the window," Ngugi said.

He said the window was too small for Jeff to have squeezed himself through and that only some people would force him out.

"Even the manner in which he fell shows he was already dead because the body hit the ground and bounced then lay flat, meaning it was already lifeless," Ngugi added.

He asked the magistrate to find that the three; DJ Fatxo, Wanyeki and Wang'ombe have a case to answer in relation to Jeff's murder.

It had earlier been claimed that Jeff went missing from the bedroom only for his lifeless body to be found on the ground floor of the said apartment.

However, the testimony of Jeff's father is consistent with preliminary findings of the DCI that ruled out the possibility of the deceased forcing himself through the window.

The detectives had also established that there was a scuffle in the house after a forensic examination.

Jeff, 23, was buried on March 3, 2023, in the Likia area of Njoro in Nakuru county.

His body was however exhumed for a second postmortem after authorities ordered a murder probe into the death.

The inquest hearing resumes on October 1.

Some 35 witnesses are expected to testify. So far, only three have given their testimonies.

They are Jeff's parents Peter Ngugi and Ann Mwathi and the deceased uncle Muchoki Mwathi.